A world with too many, hope with too little.

Hoping for a future where we can live with a smile

— About this planet —

Recently, by chance, I read materials regarding the polar opposite of "population."

One was the sense of crisis that "we cannot support the future due to population decline." The other was the prediction that "the Earth cannot sustain us due to population growth."

Both are serious, urgent, and likely correct. Reading either one left me breathless. For this Earth, what exactly is the "just right" number of humans? It has now exceeded 8 billion.

I have four children. My eldest daughter will soon be an adult. My youngest is right in the middle of adolescence.

When these children envision their own futures, what kind of world do I want to see spread out before them? I often think about things like that.

Getting married, having children... Compared to the era I knew, where that was "the norm," now is an era where everything can be "chosen."

But even though we should be able to choose, voices of reality like "I want to have children but can't" or "I want to get married but can't take the step"... those voices are right beside us.

Conversely, in developing countries, there is the reality of "having children for the sake of survival." As a labor force or as hands to support the household. Without even knowing if the child born will be able to live as a "person."

In just a few decades, the world has truly become quite diverse. It has become quite quiet, and also complex.

It is not about which is right, I simply think.

Whether to have children—what kind of life to lead—if each one of those things has become not a "choice," but something we are "forced to choose."

That is not true "freedom."

That is why I hope that in the future ahead, there will be "the freedom of choice to choose with a gentle smile."

Whether you have many children, just one, or none at all. It is fine to just live with someone. But at that time, please—I hope it is a "society with hope."

The problems the Earth faces are vast, and there is much I do not understand, but I still want to believe that the "warmth" and "security" within a home can be the light that illuminates hope for the future.

In any country, in any era, "living today properly" will surely be the answer for tomorrow.

Believing that,
that is precisely why I keep asking myself.

Right now, what is it that I am trying to hand over to these children?

The answer is still blurry and out of sight, but
thinking about it in this way,
talking about it together,
I feel like that is like sowing seeds for the future.

Thank you for reading this far.
So that lives born somewhere on this Earth
can grow gently and live with laughter.
If that wish has reached you even a little,
that alone makes me deeply grateful today.

#DeeplyGrateful
#ThinkingOfTheFuture
#TheEarthAndChildren
#Choice
#SmallPalms
#PictureBookWords
#LifeWithPoetry
#AlmostDailyLife