[Reflection] Bald Cypress: An Endless Beginning

According to X at Shinjuku Gyoen, "the bald cypress autumn leaves are at their peak."

"Bald cypress...?" To see the autumn colors of a tree I didn't know, I headed out to Shinjuku Gyoen again today, clutching my baguette for lunch.

It stands in an area called the "Mother and Child Forest." The rust-red color illuminated by the backlight is beautiful.

"Bald cypress" is written as "falling feather pine" in Japanese, apparently because those branch-like autumn leaves fall softly like feathers. Both the name and its origin are beautiful.

Beside it, sasanqua flowers are also blooming, slowly and beautifully teaching me about the changing of the seasons.

And the great ginkgo tree at the Shinjuku Gate.

Every time the wind blows, a multitude of yellow leaves rain down.

They will likely keep falling until the very last leaf drops someday.

With December just ahead, I feel it strongly once again.

I no longer find this scenery lonely.

"Flowers scattering" or "leaves scattering" does not point to an end.

It means "the flowers are beginning to scatter" or "the leaves are beginning to scatter." And in doing so, "they are beginning to prepare for winter."

As December approaches, people around me talk about the "end of the year" and "year-end parties." They speak of "the end of the year."
But that is a concept that only came into existence after humans invented the calendar.

For the Earth and for life itself, there is no inherent boundary.
This year does not end, and the next year is not something that arrives.

It is simply that today and now are continuously beginning without interruption.

Time has no end. "Endings" are things that humans create by dividing time.

Momo and paleontology have taught me this.

That we are eternal.

That we are always standing upon a beginning.

When I was young—back when I still valued time performance—I lived with the feeling that the present was constantly ending.

I would find an "end" to the year in December and feel a little lonely.

But now, I simply think about how to play with the time that is "today" and "now," starting from the beginning of "today" and "now."

If you are conscious of an "end," your pace of action might increase.
However, your heart will lose its sense of ease to the same degree.

If you are conscious of a "beginning," your pace of action might slow down.
However, your heart will be filled to that same degree, and you will be able to feel time once again.

I want to continue viewing the world from the starting line.

This is the greatest 'thought' I have acquired this year.