The Nature of Things

At the sight of the inevitable one must learn to accept it and move on. That must be the reason why I have grown accustomed to the nature of things. I do not need to fight it because I know I will not win. Where I come from we fight. We fight the unchangeable and we think that the unchangeable can be changed. And when we lose these battles we get up again, proud because we fought.

Should I opt for pacifism? What if pacifism just isn’t part of my being, just isn’t part of the natural state of my body?

Some days are warm, some days are not. I cannot control that. But I can control the way it controls me. I have accepted the cold as an ineludible part of my home. I know that my mornings will be cold and I face them. Sometimes when I am coming home and it is cold outside, I do not rush to open the door. I arrive with ease because the cold will not last forever. And it does not rain much in Shodoshima so when it rains I must laugh and understand that nature can be stubborn and unpredictable but also beautiful and rich. I am very much a part of it. 

The Zoo

I work at a zoo with many monkeys. They scream loudly and they don’t learn. I ask them to do something and they do the opposite. Sometimes I dodge, I hit, I scream. I try to train them but it is useless. Other times I mimic, I jump with them so they may think I am one of them, no distinctions made, no need to set rules. I am like you, you see, a screaming monkey living in the zoo. I offer them rewards during lunchtime. Some are hesitant and will not accept. They don’t know if they can trust another species. I try to bribe them into giving me affection. “Do you think I should make them pay attention?” one of the teachers asks me. “No, I think they are how they are supposed to be.” We are all monkeys living in the zoo.