Things that weren't necessary in the past become essential now

When we look at the things around us, we sometimes unconsciously decide, "This is what this is."

"This is something I don't need."
"This is something for special people to use."
"This is something that has always been used this way."

In such ways, we sometimes define the role and value of things within ourselves.

But does that value really never change?

When times change and environments change, things that were not taken for granted until yesterday can become important existences that support someone's life or livelihood.

I once wrote about parasols.

Seeing children going to and from school with parasols, I realized the role of parasols was different from the past.

I used to think that parasols had nothing to do with me.

They were things used by people who cared about fashion or those who wanted to avoid getting a tan.

I didn't have the impression that they were for children, and I thought they were things that didn't really concern me.

However, as I watched children walking with parasols, my perspective gradually changed.

Parasols were not just things to avoid the sun.

They had become important tools to protect oneself from the severe heat and support the children's health.

That was when I realized something.

What really remained in my heart was not the parasol itself.

"The role of things changes with the times."

That was it.

Things that didn't have a special meaning in the past can become essential to someone due to changes in the environment.

In the past, when I heard "tools to protect life," I would think of helmets, seatbelts, or disaster prevention supplies.

Of course, it remains true that they have important roles.

But as times change, things that protect people in new ways can also be born.

I believe that what people living in that era need is not something decided from the beginning.

And I wonder if the same can be said not only for things, but also for people.

We sometimes judge a person's potential based only on their environment or position.

However, through encounters or experiences with someone, we may realize the true value or kindness that person possesses.

I have an experience that taught me that.

When my daughter was in high school, she had the opportunity to interact with stateless children as part of volunteer work.

The image of the children my daughter told me about at that time still remains in my heart.

Those children were overflowing with a pure desire to learn and held dreams and hopes in their hearts.

The way they spoke directly about their future goals and dreams in their own words.

The way they tried to look forward and learn even in a limited environment.

My daughter said she was deeply moved by that.

And that experience remains within my daughter even now, years later.

"If there is another opportunity, I want to teach those children I met back then."

"Even if I cannot go to the local area, I want to cherish what I felt through that experience and support children in Japan who have dreams and hopes so that they can continue to hold onto those thoughts."

That is what my daughter said.

Not forgetting the people you met once, nurturing that experience within yourself, and caring about someone's future.

When I saw that, I felt that my daughter had become an adult.

Perhaps becoming an adult is not just about getting older.

Thinking about what you can do for someone and being able to keep that thought.

I think that is also what it means to grow as a person.

Neither the parasols nor the children my daughter met had only the value we saw at first.

By changing our perspective, we can notice new meanings and important roles.

Perhaps the value of things and the potential of people are not decided from the beginning.

They can take on new meanings depending on the era, environment, and encounters.

That is why I want to look at the potential within things and people without easily judging them.

We live surrounded by many things.

But in reality, we might be living while being supported by many things and many encounters with people.

An encounter with one thing.
An encounter with one person.

Small realizations born from there can change one's way of thinking or life.

For me, the encounter with the children's parasols and the existence of the children my daughter met when she was in high school were important experiences that changed the way I look at things and people.

From now on, I want to face the things in front of me and the people I meet without deciding "this is what this is," while cherishing the meaning and potential within them.