What a friend from the Heian period is 100% conscious of when interacting with people.

Do you have any friends around you whom you can respect?

I do.

From my childhood to this very day, I have met many people, and I still have friends nearby whom I can truly respect. And that is a very happy thing.

Thanks to that, on note as well, the number of people I can now call friends has increased. Even though I don't know most of their faces, their personalities come through in their writing and live streams.

I respect them all.

Also,

Rintaro Hasegawa of Timbers and I met through note, and it was a masterpiece when we actually met in Sapporo at the beginning of the year. I remember that as soon as we met, without any formalities or pleasantries, we burst out laughing at the very first thing we said.

Mr. Hasegawa is full of intelligence, speaks in a relaxed manner, and was smiling the whole time, so I lost track of time and talked with him for two hours, as if we had known each other since the Heian period. Naturally, I respect Mr. Hasegawa as well.

He also updates his note every day in between his busy schedule, so it's a strange feeling where I feel like I'm meeting him every day even though I'm not.

Looking at Mr. Rintaro's recent articles, I feel as if he were my younger brother, and I read them with a smile.

◾️This is his article from when I met Mr. Rintaro!

In short,
I respect everyone I have met.

Writing this sounds good, and people might say, 'Oh, you don't really mean that,' but in the center of my heart, there is an ideal version of me who wants to be that kind of person.

This piece of writing is the same. I am writing it by projecting the self I want to be. I want to get even a little closer to that ideal self.

Everyone I have met has many things I can learn from that I do not possess, and that is precisely why I want to learn from those experiences and grow myself.

...

So, let's return to the beginning of the story.

I want to respect all my friends, but there is one friend I respect above all others. He is my high school classmate.

He isn't in the upper caste of status comparisons, like having a high academic background or being tall, which are commonly talked about in society, but he fascinates many people with his wonderful personality.

It just so happened that we were in the same class when we entered high school in our first year, and we sat next to each other, our shoe lockers were next to each other, and we were in the same club.

He also reads a lot of books, our conversational wavelengths match, and we have everything in common. We met at 15, and now that we are 32, we are still friends who laugh together just as we did back then.

I'm sure our ancestors from the Heian period were
friends too.

There are many points to respect about him, but
"I want to convey just this one point"—I will write that point right away.

...

He never speaks ill of others.

I realized that only after I became an adult.

I go out to eat with friends I'm not that close with. My respected friend is there too. Someone gossips about someone else, complains about their company, grumbles about work, or tells bad stories about their parents or siblings.

Since I tend to listen, I say,
I see, I listen.

What about him?

He doesn't take the bait.

There were several such dinner parties, but
I realized something at one point.

Come to think of it, I have never heard him speak ill of others or complain. Thinking back, it's been that way since high school.

I see...

Of course, we would tell and laugh at the dark jokes our high school group liked. But I had never heard him say anything that would put others down.

There is a common saying that whether words are directed at yourself or others, they eventually come back to you. I thought it was something spiritual like 'kotodama,' but it seems it is actually proven by neuroscience.

Apparently, the brain cannot recognize the subject.

Speaking ill of someone that comes out of your own mouth
is the same as speaking ill of yourself.

I have never asked him if he is conscious of this. It wouldn't be classy.

However, thinking there is much to learn from him, I have consciously stopped complaining about people or society with a straight face since some time ago. Following his example.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Close friends are often similar to oneself. There is even a rumor that you are the average of the five people you are closest to.

The same goes for your environment. Your work environment, for instance, reflects your own abilities. In other words, the people around you are the connections that match your own ability. The place you are in now is the place that matches your own ability.

I wonder. It is a painful reality.

It may sound like a cold way of putting it, but there is certainly some truth to it. In other words, denying someone close to you or your environment is synonymous with denying yourself.

Therefore,

Try stopping the bad-mouthing and complaints.

Then, strangely enough, you start to notice the good points in people and the wonderful aspects of the world. Your learning increases.

Perhaps this is the kind of message I want to pass on to my child, who hasn't even been born yet.

...

The story of how I was expelled from university is something I have written about until it's worn out on this note.

The one who helped me when I ran away from my parents' home and was practically an orphan is, believe it or not, this guy.

So, tomorrow,

My university life and expulsionI think I will write a story about.

I don't think anyone is expecting it, but look forward to it!

<Postscript 2023.02.27 Continuation of this article>

[Related] This is the article where he, who never bad-mouths anyone, appears!

[LIVE Announcement] The next comfort radio guest is this person!