‘Japanese Hobby Culture’ teaches us the power of unserious joy. 無意味な幸せ
Japanese culture encourages people to find happiness not in their big responsibilities but in their tiny, insignificant joys.
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This Week’s Wuwei Entry: ‘Japanese Hobby Culture’ teaches us the power of unserious joy. 無意味な幸せ
On the first night of my trip to Tokyo this year, there was a cartoon that played on repeat in my hotel room. It was a group of salary men who got together to drink through the numbing sadness of the meaningless of their youth. They drank beers and laughed about the companies they slaved away to grow that are no longer running, or the long hours they agreed to work during their prime with no happy memories from their youth. One of the entertainers working there told them to stop trying to find happiness in the depths (or lack thereof) of their lives— instead, they should do seemingly meaningless things and find joy in that: 「悩みをTHINKするではなく、無意味をSINGするのです!」
The character went on to ask them what ‘meaningless’ things they did that day. With the joy and bright gleam of a child playing with a stick, the men answered:
“I went to the zoo and stared at an Orangutan for 5 hours”
“I drew elaborate art in the sand and watched the ocean wash it away”
“I dug a whole in my backyard for the whole day”
When we spend all our time trying to create this deep meaning with our lives, we end up getting trapped in a cycle of perfectionism, shame and guilt. We rob ourselves from rest, joy and the fulfilment of our desires because we feel we aren’t good unless we are for the world and not for ourselves.
Affirmations of the Week
*I allow joy to flow through me.
*I take time to thoroughly enjoy existing, feeling my feelings, and taking in the fullness of the present.
*I do not need to find ways to create abundance, abundance finds me when I am most joyful and aligned.
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