A MORNING GLORY AND THE SEA OF DREAMS

I lay down and took a midday nap, I had a dream.

I am a photographer who lives in Tokyo and takes pictures of the city. I was standing on the road and talking with my colleague.

At this situation where missiles suddenly don’t fly, I smiled with a hint of irony but peaceful eyes. As I left from my mate, the missile was hurled just right next to me.

It took me a while to realise that the implausible situation was real, but I soon noticed that something terrible had happened. In my dream, I was trying to escape as much as possible, feeling fury at the unreasonable situation where missiles flew there at me one after another, but keeping my feeling about that to myself. Then, I woke up.

One morning, I came across beautiful flowers of morning glory.

When I saw the flowers, I was reminded of Sen no Rikyu's story about a morning glory, and I took some pictures of the most beautiful blooming morning glory.

I want to live like a flower, to learn from it, to be beautiful even when it falls like a cherry blossom, and to be graceful and not afraid of even death.

However, my anger was fueled by the missiles that flew unnecessarily at me.

Am I able to be a new beginning if I harmonised with the universe like a flower that does not fear even death when the time came.

Is it possible to put into practice something leisurely?

As we learn from flower arrangement, we must cherish our beliefs. On the other hand, I also thought that protecting one's dignity might be the most important cause of conflict.

I've been thinking about history and religion lately, wondering why the bloody conflicts that we see on the news occur and what the root cause of these problems is.

In the end, to eliminate conflict, it seems that is the only way we compromise by adjusting the limits of intolerance.

I wish everyone would be smart enough not to get involved with people who want to take advantage of that intolerance and start a war.  It's hard for a human being to demand tolerance in everything for every stage at once even that could be ideal. 

We must not hurt the dignity of others, I think it is equally important to maintain peace to know that no matter what anyone says, no one can hurt the essence of who we are.

It's also imperative to defend rather than it is to attack, and when you realise that your opponent might have that too, you become a little calmer.