出る杭は打たれる。 Deru kui wa utareru
The basic translation - The nail that sticks out will always get hammered down.
As I walk around this unique city everyday, in awe of the activity going on around me, I try to listen inside, to what my instincts are saying about the people that are surrounding me. I ask myself questions such as, can I connect with these people? This culture and their way of thinking? And as I stand on a jam packed train everyday completely full of people, where personal space ceases to exist, for 15 minutes the entire train rides along to it's various destinations, in complete and absolute silence. Not a word is spoken. Not a smile is shared. Nothing is being eaten or drunk. Couples show no personal affection, not even holding hands. Can I catch someones eye, give a smile and spread a little joy? The truth is, It's very difficult to.
I've met some people recently, that have told me they don't like to listen to music. This came to me as a surprise, as music is one of my mains sources of happiness, and calmness, warmth and emotion, which adds obligatory flavor and spice to my life. A life without music would be, for me a very dull existence
The thousands of people that catch the trains everyday, what is their main job? Most of them seem to be dressed as office workers and business men. But so many people have so many creative talents that they could exploit and embrace, creating more art, music and doing a job that they love rather than have to go to. I remember England being a country that supported anyone who showed any bit of talent, to embrace it and help them show it to the rest of the world. I loved it for that and still do.
The happiest I've seen people here in public is in a nightclub, people expressing themselves through dancing and laughing, happily sharing joy with each other. Until... the police come and raid the place because dancing without a dancing license is illegal. So the happiness evaporates as quickly as it came.
After putting all of these things together, the above proverb started to make total sense to me. What if you are special in Japan? Different from the rest? Stick out like that nail, stand out from the crowd? Are you looked down on by the rest? That nail, that person expressing themselves differently because it feels more natural for them to do so, gets hammered down, to the place where everyone else is, to BE like everyone else. A population is much more easily controlled when everyone has the same type of thinking, no rebels to deal with only people who nod agree and do what they are told.
What kind of life is this though? The more important question, actually is, WHO's life are you living being this way? Yours or the person who is telling you how to think and feel everyday of your life?
This world is such an amazing place, and what makes it the most spectacular place to be is, that each of us, as human beings, are individually and interestingly different, making every person as special as the next. If everybody realized their uniqueness, their passions and acted upon them, upon their instincts and feelings rather than a way of thinking, it could definitely be said that it would take the monotony out of the every day life that we all feel caught up in sometimes.
It's easy to get caught up in it, to give in, the be hammered down to the level of the rest. Who wants others to think badly of them? No one of course. But this thinking only imprisons you. Your whole life becomes shaped by what other people think of you. But everything you do, dress and say being based on what people think about you is not living a life of freedom. Freedom is a right everyone should have, and gaining it is much easier than you think. The only step that has to be taken is to stop caring what other people think of you. Most of these people are in the street, and will probably never seen you again, and therefore will have no more effect on your life. Once you stop caring, and you will have the key to your freedom. It's a kind of bliss. Once you have mastered it, trust me, it's one of the most liberating feelings in the world.
I've been brought up to believe that standing out is the greatest thing to do to progress and have an interesting and adventurous life. Standing out = being remembered. If you are remembered, the dreams that you have are more likely to materialize in front of your eyes.
The truth is, every great opportunity I've had in my life, is because I have stuck out and done something different and out of the ordinary. I'd do extra research of companies before job interviews and even little things like changing dull homework activities in my classes to something exciting and personal that the students can relate to. Students never forget things like that. Takes some people years to speak Japanese? My objective is in another few months to have lengthy conversations in just Japanese. Different? Oh well, doing this will open many more doors in my life, as I'll be able to communicate with thousands more people, help and inspire and so the circle goes on.
This is what I call living. And so I'm sorry to say I'm not getting hammered down any time soon. I'm reaching for the stars, and I intend to get there one way or another.
Let's all stop caring what others think of us. Let's do only what we love the most in life. Let's act on our feelings, listen and trust only what our most inner instincts are telling us. Then we will be able to all rise together and wherever we go, wherever we end up, we can make miracles happen, all around us. :)
