The True Nature of Experience Articles | Why You Fall into the Deep Sea #1
I often hear things like this from people who read withchat articles.
“The lingering feeling stays with you, doesn't it?”
“It really is an experience article.”
“While reading it, I fell into a deep place.”
“It wasn't an explanation; it was an experience.”
But honestly,
even though I wrote that they were “experience articles” myself,
it didn't really click for me (laughs).
It’s true that it becomes quiet, and there is a lingering feeling.
But I don't intend to explain anything,
nor am I trying to heal anyone.
And I certainly am not trying to guide anyone.
I was justwriting normally.
Yet, for some reason,
people say they “experienced” it.
I finally understood the reason for that this time.
I thought it was because the expression was beautiful
At first, I thought it was a matter of language.
The lingering resonance of Japanese,
the use of onomatopoeia,
metaphors, and the pacing.
That’s why I thought,
“This would fall apart if translated into other languages.”
In fact, I have even written articles about how,
when Japanese literature is translated into other languages,
the unique sensibilities of the Japanese language are lost.
What I was writing was not emotion
This time, one thing has become clear.
What I was writing was not
emotion, mood, or story.
It was the “blood flow” of thought and psychology.
・Where thoughts get stuck
・Where emotions get fixed
・Where one gets the “illusion of understanding”
・Where the flow naturally returns
I placed these in order,
without evaluating, interpreting, or prescribing them,
just by their sequence.
As a result,
the writing became a visualization
of the circulatory structure of thought and emotion.
The place that many articles do not cover
Many articles are written like this.
Write about the symptoms
Write about the causes
Write about the solutions
On the other hand, what I was writing was,
Write about the stagnation
Write about the fixation
Write about the recirculation
Moreover,
without mixing in emotions,
without evaluating,
without offering a prescription.
That is why
no dependency is created.
That is why it becomes an "experience article"
I am not writing about how to do things.
I am not writing about the correct answers either.
I am not saying "become like this" either.
Simply,
getting stuck
looping
wanting to finish quickly
but not finishing
when you pass through properly, it naturally releases
I am only leaving behind this sequence of passage.
The readers
are not reading the explanation and understanding it.
I am tracing the same sequence within.
That is why it does not end with just "I understand."
My breathing deepens,
my body feels lighter as if something has been released,
and my center of gravity quietly settles as it sinks in.
It is because I am writing about the
incomplete processes that occur within a person.
Why do we fall into the deep sea?
When people think of the deep sea,
a place where emotions are heavy,
a dark place,
a special place.
It tends to be thought of in such ways, but
in my experience, it is different.
The deep sea is
a place where incomplete things have settled.
Thoughts that could not be processed at the surface,
questions left halfway,
emotions that were rushed to an end.
Things that did not flow through completely
are simply accumulating below.
I am not shining a light there,
nor am I digging them back up.
I am simply returning the flow to its original direction.
That is why we "fall" into the deep sea.
But that is not
to sink.
It was just that the place where the circulation restarts
was there.
I was not trying to write an experience article
I was not
trying to write an experience article.
I was simply
letting the blockages and stagnation occurring within me
pass through without deceiving myself.
As a result,
・It does not become an explanation
・It does not become an emotional argument
・It does not collapse even if the language changes
It had become a piece of writing that remains as an experience.
By repeating this process,
the outline of 'myself' finally comes into view.
The reason I started publishing English articles
If 'beautiful Japanese' were the main axis,
it would break the moment the language changed.
Onomatopoeia is
a 'tool for conveying feelings'.
But I,
am not dependent on writing style
am not using Japanese magic
am not in the business of atmosphere
the structure before and after 'feelings' are bornam writing about.
Onomatopoeia is a weapon.
But it is not a pillar.
Therefore,
even if I strip away the expression
even if I change the language
even if the tone changes
people
stop at the same places and let go at the same places.
Rather, from now on,
Japanese: Deep sea, lingering tone, silence
English: Skeleton, passage, assertion
I can also divide roles like that.
It is the same even when translated into other languages.
My writing,
even if the expression is pared down, retains its substance.
What withchat is doing
Falling into the deep sea is not
because emotions are heavy.
It is because the flow was only left there.
What I am writing is
the very movement
of a person getting caught, stopping,
and then moving through it.the movement itself.
Now, I understand that.
That is why, from now on,
I will probably continue to write in the same way.
I do not try to write beautifully.
I do not try to make it easy to understand, either.
I simply
ensure the order in which the flow passes without clogging,
so that the way the snow melts
and flows into the river appears just as it is.
—
This article also exists in English.
▶Record of Thought Movement | Reasons for Falling into the Deep Sea #2