A Simple Yet Fulfilling Life: What My Grandmother's Lifestyle Taught Me

My mindset has been shifting from the abundance of being surrounded by many things to a life surrounded by only a few favorite items.
When I think about this, a role model comes to mind.
That person is my maternal grandmother.

My grandmother was born in the Meiji era.
My grandfather passed away from illness when I was one year old, and after my aunt got married, she lived alone.

My grandmother lived in kimono at all times.
She would wear a white kappogi apron to do her housework.
I have never seen her wearing Western clothes.
She would buy bolts of fabric and sew her own kimono.
When I was a child, my mother would buy the fabric for my yukata, and my grandmother would sew them for me.

When I was in elementary school, I would go stay at my grandmother's house on weekends and during long breaks.
After waking up and putting away the futon, I would tear up wet newspaper, scatter it on the tatami mats, and sweep with a broom.
I would also sweep the entryway, replace the rice, water, and flowers at the Buddhist altar, and press my hands together in prayer.
Then, we would have breakfast.
No matter when I went to stay, the flow of the day never changed.

After meals, she would bring a chair outside and brush my hair.
The first time she brought a chair outside to brush my hair, I felt embarrassed because I felt like a princess from a book I had read.
My grandmother always brushed my hair outside, saying that hair would fall inside the house and that it felt good to be in the sunlight and breeze.

I never saw her belongings overflowing or cluttering the house.
Although it was an old house, it was always clean inside.

In her small home, there was only enough tableware to fit on the shelves and enough kimono to fit in the chest.
Just a few pairs of zori sandals.
She took great care of the tools and personal items she used every day, such as occasionally unpicking and resewing her kimono or maintaining her frying pan with oil after washing it.

My grandmother had a chronic illness and could not walk long distances or exercise.
When I went to stay with her, I would go to the library near her house to borrow books or make friends with children of my age who lived nearby to play.

When I didn't go out and played inside the house, my grandmother would bring out fabric scraps and teach me how to sew.
I was around six or seven years old when I first held a needle and thread.
She taught me running stitches, backstitches, and how to knot the thread, and I would make little bags.
Thinking about it now, she must have been finding ways for us to have fun with what we had at home.

Even when I went to stay with her, I don't feel like it was particularly luxurious, but it was comfortable.

She did the same things every day without fail and did not own more than she could manage.
She found ways to enjoy what she had.
She treated her belongings with care and kept them for a long time by maintaining them.

When I think about my future life, I feel that my grandmother's lifestyle, which I experienced as a child, though it is an old memory, might be close to my ideal form of living.