Strolling through the pathway in a new city I cherished the quiet. How can this full breath of autumn leaves, dirt, and scents of new flowers exist in a city of this size? My sense of time is altered as I pass friends, families, and school aged youth sitting on the grass to enjoy this same feeling in the middle of Tokyo.
Passing a still pond surrounding by trees that feel lost in time I spot a young man, also foreign to this side of the ocean reading a book. When was the last time I sat still on a bench in a park and just read? The love of books and the smell of paper still have a hold in this part of the world.
Unexpectedly, I felt a familiar feeling return.
It’s one thing to go through my daily prompts. Ones from my own published books but it’s another to feel the love for writing again. During my first trip to Japan, my love for words grew. That one walk in the garden in the middle of the city and then being surrounded by books illustrated and written by artists at a festival flooded my veins.
My love unusual stories, like cats who save books, or poems by dead people had gone quiet within me and I didn’t even notice. My hands have been so busy sculpting my art that my first love had stepped aside to give me more room. My lover went quiet without complaint, and waited for me to rediscover them again.
My books were more patient than me. I felt my body settle from this unexpected feeling and cherish the moment as I hugged myself again. Where had my lover been?
Leave it to my own prompts to work their magic. Going into another world through travelled worked again. I swear there were times when I spotted a few new authors on the trains of Tokyo more than one time. Maybe that was my imagination or wishful thinking but I let myself pretend without care because that’s how we allow some of them to come true. Wishes and imagination need a helper to become reality.
I told myself, after making a life change in the beginning of the year was all about self discovery and growth. I finally experienced that moment of having all the time in the world because of my new change. Flexibility of schedule is like stepping into the quiet of one of those quiet parks in the middle of the city. You never know what you’re going to find around the corner.
Letting predictable go this year has been a roller coaster ride, and I had no one else to blame for my choice. But I had to be brave and try it so that I didn’t go through live with regrets. Unpublished books and regrets aren’t something I want piled up under my tombstone.
Ignoring the ache in my legs as I turned the corners in a new city, undiscovered, was well worth the ticket. Although, I think I’m going to call the city of Tokyo, the city of undiscovered stairs. I’ve never climbed so many inside and up train platforms or inside shopping areas. Now, I understand their secret to staying in shape. The never ending sets of stairs on daily commutes is the secret.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this first part in my “Tokyo Diaries Series”. There’s more to come later.
Imagine Inspire Create: 52 Weeks of action and gratitude is available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S6XCLFY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_Q7MHM9CFBSASDG56YMJQ
Get closer to your writing goals with my Writer’s Journal filled with writing prompts and exercises. You can find a copy at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0931QRL7C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_VTHN0QSHXRYK6RJ1XSWQ.
Writer's Block Inc 