3 Life Questions - Hokkaido - Thoreau's Quiet Desperation

Here's the video

Back from Hokkaido
I’m back in Chiang Mai, Thailand after spending time in Hokkaido, Japan.
I love Japan. It’s a magical place for me.
Besides the beautiful natural scenery and harmony with nature, it’s the most organized, cleanest, safest, and most punctual place I’ve ever been.
The people are polite, graceful, calm, and hospitable.
The Japanese take great pride in their work, and their food is extraordinary.

3 Life Questions
Travel always stirs me up inside. It makes me reflect and contemplate my life.
Every time I return home from a trip, I ask myself the same 3 questions:
- Who am I again?
- Where am I going with my life?
- What else do I want to do while I’m alive?
This has been going on for decades – when I return home, I ponder the same questions.

Jon Kabat-Zinn
A couple days ago, I was reading one of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books, Wherever You Go, There You Are. It’s a book about meditation.
One quote in particular resonated with me. He wrote:

“At some time or another, you are practically forced to sit down and contemplate your life and question who you are and where the meaning lies in the journey of your life.”

On a return flight for 4 hours, or 8 hours, I’m forced to sit down, but my mind is ruminating.
I think when we step away from our routines, away from what’s familiar, outside of our comfort zones, we look at ourselves with a new lens.
I find it refreshing and energizing.

Henry David Thoreau
You’re probably familiar with Thoreau’s famous quote in Walden, from 1854. He said:

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

We work, we achieve, we accumulate, and we do what’s expected of us.
But eventually, deep down there’s a quiet ache, a sense that it’s time to consider a different path.

Traveling helps me see various path options.
It makes it easier to contemplate questions like – Where am I going? What else do I want to do while I’m alive?

I think as we get older, we realize success and fulfillment are not the same thing.
That’s when quiet desperation can creep in.

But it’s also when awakening begins. It’s a wake up call.
Those questions – Who am I, where am I going, what else do I want to do – are not signs of confusion; they’re signs of consciousness.
It’s your soul knocking at the door.
It’s an invitation to realign your life with what’s really you and what’s meaningful.
It’s an inquiry.

Inquiry
Importantly, we don’t have to know all the answers to those questions.
I like the way Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it in his book:

“The intention here is to remain open to not knowing, perhaps allowing yourself to come to the point of admitting, “I don’t know,” and then experimenting with relaxing a bit into this not knowing instead of condemning yourself for it.”
“Inquiry of this kind leads to openings, to new understandings and visions and actions. Inquiry takes on a life of its own after a while. It breathes new vitality, vibrancy, and grace into the bland, the humdrum, the routine. This is a good way to find the path that lies closest to your heart.”

Conclusion
My last point relates to an observation I made when I was going through immigration in Thailand, coming back from Japan.
I was completing the immigration documents, and one question struck me, like many times before, and caused me to pause.
It asked for my "occupation."
Now, I know a lot of guys will disagree with me on this point, but I just can’t get myself to answer that question with “I’m retired.” It sounds too goddam sedentary to me.

By “occupation,” I’m assuming it means “how do I occupy my time?”
The answer is I’m living my life, My Way. I travel, I read, I write, and I’m enjoying life.
So, I answered the question with “Writer.” I write scripts and newsletters. That’s my occupation now. I’m a writer.

I encourage you to take a trip to someplace you’ve never been, and then reflect on those 3 questions:
Who are you? Where are you going? What else do you want to do while you’re alive?

Thank you for watching the video or reading this blog.
Peter

Links
Here's the video
Book: Henry David Thoreau - Walden here
Book: Jon Kabat-Zinn - Wherever You Go There You Are here