【✈️ Special Flight】Why does autumn 🍁 make us feel so wistful...? I've been thinking about it. Thoughts on the autumn of contemplation and piping hot roasted sweet potatoes 🍠.

This is sudden, but
when you think of autumn, you think of roasted sweet potatoes, right?
……Wait, am I wrong? Haha.

On an autumn day when the cold was slowly seeping into my body,
as I was stuffing my face with a piping hot roasted sweet potato,
suddenly, one of my usual questions came to me again.

“Hey, why is autumn called a wistful season?”

Looking at the words alone, I feel like only the sadness is being emphasized.
But I feel like that’s not all there is to it.
Since it’s the perfect time of year for it,
I’d like you all to take a journey with me through my thoughts on this question.

1. Wistfulness is a movement of the heart without a reason.

“Wistful” (monoganashii) is a word often used to describe autumn, isn't it?
So, when we say “wistful season,”
it seems like autumn is the only one given that title.
Spring, summer, winter.
Each of them has its own sentiment,
so why does wistfulness only dwell in autumn?

First, let’s open a dictionary.
When I look up the meaning of “wistful” (monoganashii),
—Feeling somewhat lonely for no particular reason.
An emotion that doesn't feel like a clear sadness, but rather something that quietly brushes the depths of your heart—
is what it says.

What’s interesting is the part that says “for no particular reason.” It seems that “wistful” holds the power to feel loneliness or sadness that cannot be explained by logic.
It’s different from the English words “sad” or “lonely,”
and while it might be close to “melancholic,”
it’s a more faint, formless emotion than that.
What do you think? “Wistful” is quite profound, isn't it?

Now, let’s dig deeper. Exciting.

2. The true nature of “mono” — The presence of an invisible existence.

Wistful (monoganashii) = Mono (thing/something) + Kanashii (sad).
As an aside, I love breaking down words.
So, I broke it down as I usually do.

Mono (something) + Kanashii (sad).

First, “mono.”
This doesn't seem to refer to things you can see,
but rather something invisible.
Indeed, just like the archaic terms “mono-omou” (to be lost in thought), “mononoke” (spirit), and “mono-iwanu” (silent), it makes sense when you say it refers to the presence of a formless existence.
“
Something invisible” In other words, it represents the sound of the wind, the moment a fallen leaf dances down, or something that makes your heart flutter—a

mono.

3. The difference from “sad” — Not losing, but cherishing.

Next, “sad” (kanashii).
Sadness is said to be an emotion of self-loss, like losing someone or something coming to an end.
However, the meaning I want to highlight is the following:


—In archaic Japanese, it was written as “kanashii.” This “kana” was also written as “beloved” or “sorrowful,”
and originally held the meaning of “precious” or “heart-moving.”

In the past, “sad” was
a word much closer to “beloved” than it is now.
The old resonance of “mono-kanashii”
began to take on a warm meaning within me.

4. The feeling of cherishing and mourning an invisible “something.”

And then, the phrase “mono no aware” suddenly came to mind.
Norinaga Motoori said that “mono no aware” is the “emotion that a person’s heart feels when it touches the state of ‘mono’ (= all existence).”
In other words, it means “a poignancy that the heart reacts to naturally, not through logic” or
“feeling things without resisting the flow of time.”

Ah, I see. And so, finally, I arrived at the meaning of wistful.

Feeling something unseen, cherishing it, and feeling a sense of loss.
This might be the essence of melancholy, perhaps.

Spring is filled with the light of beginnings.
Summer is active, wrapped in the heat of life.
Winter is when the world quietly goes to rest.
Amidst this, I think autumn is the only season that connects the path toward the next season.
Autumn colors the season as it transitions gently and slowly.
Perhaps that is why we are able to feel something unseen in autumn—.

🍠 And so, while being comforted by my half-eaten roasted sweet potato, I let my thoughts wander.

—Autumn is called a melancholy season.
But everyone, people also call it the autumn of appetite.
Don't you think that when humans eat delicious food and our stomachs are full, we can strangely become a little kinder?

So, I also thought this.
Perhaps we enjoy the autumn harvest to gently soothe our hearts in this season where we feel melancholy.
And perhaps, by filling our hearts and stomachs with the warmth and deliciousness of a piping hot roasted sweet potato, we can spend the time leading up to winter gently and slowly.

Melancholy might be a human luxury that we can only feel because our hearts are walking slowly and gently along with the seasons.

—And so, while being healed and filled in heart and stomach by my half-eaten roasted sweet potato 🍠, I let my thoughts wander once again toward a new journey of reflection—.

This is a rest stop where you can pause in the middle of your questions [layover journey of questions time].
I hope this journey, too, becomes a gentle and kind time for you 🌻

Thank you for reading until the end 🌻 KANA