naoyoga Column Vol. 13 - Typhoon No. 6 and Human Warmth

Good evening everyone!!
This is Naoko, a yoga instructor living in Okinawa!!

Wow, the topic of this week has been nothing but Typhoon No. 6...
I've been living in Okinawa for two and a half years now, but this was my first time facing a serious typhoon head-on.

What I felt during this typhoon.
Of course, there are physical and geographical reasons why typhoons are prone to hitting Okinawa,
but I truly felt that they must come to Okinawa because the people here are strong enough to overcome them.
For about a week, there were power outages and water cuts, self-employed people lost their work, and company employees had to deal with irregular situations.
Even though everyone was fighting against nature and should have been struggling just to take care of themselves,
the air was truly overflowing with mutual aid and love.
When I opened social media, people were saying things like, 'This supermarket has these items!' or 'Be careful, this road is dangerous!' and some even opened up their facilities to those without water or electricity.
It was just so heartwarming.

During the first wave of a certain virus, I was still a company employee in Tokyo.
Moreover, I was in a position of responsibility, so I had to deal with employees, customers, and company policies.
I don't even remember how I managed to breathe back then, but
what I received a lot of during that time were complaints.
I understand the feeling of why that happens.
Your life is being swayed by things you have no control over.
I felt like crying many times—or rather, I did cry several times—wondering how I could calm people down or why I was the one apologizing. lol
(I don't mean to say that Okinawa is amazing and everything else is bad.
And it's not that I hated being a company employee and now everything is perfect.
I don't hold any grudges against the people or the company I was involved with back then.)
It's not that complaints are bad, or that Tokyo is bad, but
I really didn't hear any complaining, grumbling, or tearing each other down this past week.

When the things around you are being thrown into chaos,
it's only natural to get frustrated and want to lash out at someone.
In the middle of this hot summer, there's no electricity, no air conditioning, and no water.
Yet, people around me were saying, 'You can use our place!' or 'It's open here!'
It was truly the spirit of 'Yuimaru' (mutual aid) and 'Ichari-ba Choodee' (once we meet, we are brothers/sisters) that
I experienced firsthand over these past few days.

The reason I decided to make this my theme is because
one of the people who takes my yoga classes works at the airport.
She was crying after the yoga session.
She said, 'I'm so glad I came. I can do my best again.'
I almost cried too.
While people were cooperating and trying their best to overcome this typhoon,
it seems like there was a storm of complaints one after another at the airport from people who couldn't get home.

We had been saying for days that a huge typhoon was coming.
A friend who came last weekend even took the initiative to change their flight to an earlier one, albeit reluctantly, because they were worried about getting stuck.
Just look at the sky; there's no way planes can fly in this, yet there are people working so hard to try and make things work.
If people could just think about that a little bit, or have the sense to talk to each other about it,
I think the situation would change.

I think there are many things in life that we have no control over.
Natural disasters, of course, but also company policies, the difference in how others react,
and the difference in temperature between yourself and others.
But you know, I thought once again that I want to be the kind of person who can turn the vector toward myself at such times.
If you connect negative emotions to others, you end up thinking, 'Why won't they do this for me?'
and then more negativity gathers within you.
As a result, you end up suffering.
'Why won't you do this for me?'
'I'm like this too, and even though I'm (enduring it and) doing this...'
'I don't know what you're talking about, even I am...'
Even if you connect like that, what lies ahead is just
'That's why I didn't want to do it.'
'It's not my fault.'
'Why are you taking it that way?'

I'm just so done with this

That's all there is to it.

Kin-pachi Sensei once said that the character for 'person' (人) is made up of two strokes supporting each other.
I don't think there is anything stronger than human warmth.

Anyway, even though they said today would be the last day, the rain is at its heaviest and the internet is unstable, so the future in Okinawa is still unpredictable, but
let's spend our time cherishing the things and people right in front of us.

Naoko