Get out of the house, whether it's for SATC or anything else

I suddenly felt like writing an article while putting my child to sleep,
so I opened my note app while reciting the contents of a picture book.

If you're wondering what made me want to write so suddenly,

it's about "the importance of leaving the house."

It's about that.

By "leaving the house" here, I don't mean moving out of your parents' home,
but rather stepping out of the house and going somewhere.

The reason is that my mother recently retired,
and while we were talking about what she should do for work from now on,
she mentioned that it's painful to have days pass by without doing anything.

I'm going to think seriously about what I can do to live a long and healthy life!

She said this in a LINE message, but when I saw that sentence, I couldn't help but mutter,

"No, you shouldn't just think about it, you need to move your hands and feet."


It's a sad trait that I can easily say such things to otherseven though I'm not able to do it myself.

In my previous article, I put "I'm also curious about Zen" in the title,
and it seems there is a saying in the world of Zen called
"Zen is action."

It seems that Zen is considered to be about taking action.
I had an image of just sitting cross-legged and meditating (that's Zazen, I suppose),
so I felt a sense of relief, thinking, "Zen is surprisingly outdoorsy."

Don't just think, move your hands and feet.
When you think that way, cleaning the house or cooking is fine,
or even leaving the house to go for a walk is good.

When you only think, doesn't it feel like your brain starts running in a direction that leads to overthinking,
and your heart gets exhausted along with it?

In such situations, I remember this scene from SATC.

When Charlotte had a chemical pregnancy.

She always had perfect, glossy hair and wore designer dresses,
and that didn't change even when she was doing housework.
(She wore rubber gloves.)

The only time Charlotte looked casual
was when she went jogging as a hobby...

But at that time, she was just in her loungewear, with uncombed hair,
sitting on the sofa, completely devastated.

Charlotte had even declined the invitation to Miranda's son Brady's birthday party,
and was holed up in her house.

At that time, a documentary about Elizabeth Taylor happened to be playing on the TV she had on.
That flipped a switch in Charlotte's heart,
and with a fresh start, she did her hair and makeup beautifully,
and started walking down Park Avenue.

This scene...
It's sad, but it's one of my favorite scenes.
Every time I watch it, I feel encouraged.
In reality, it's not that easy to change your feelings,
but even so, the cast in the drama,
just like us living in the real world,
is crushed by sadness,
and from a state where just breathing is all they can do,
they regain hope, dreams, and admiration (in Charlotte's case) in their hearts,
and change their mindset to step outside.

There are many scenes I love in SATC,
but this one remains very memorable.

I also remember Miranda encouraging Carrie, who was home alone during her single days, by saying,
"You can't stay home! You have to go out and have dinner!"
and I find myself thinking, "Yeah, she's right!" and motivating myself.
Just get out of the house, no matter what.

Just get out of the house, no matter what.
Just get out of the house, no matter what.

I always think that's really important
the moment I step out of the house.

However,

I don't want to leave the house without makeup!
(The sunburn issue, the no-eyebrows or thin-eyebrows issue,
the fact that my face is plain to begin with, the messy hair issue, the what-should-I-wear issue, and so on...)

As you can see, even just saying "go out"
involves several hurdles to overcome,
and they really do hold me back.

For the sunburn issue, I have no choice but to wear sunscreen,
(I haven't tried oral sunscreen yet.)
But when I thought about how to clear the other hurdles,
I succeeded by using the following setup.


Eyebrows → Fujiko eyebrow tint
Plain face → Eyelash extensions or lash lift
Messy hair → New Era 9FORTY
Clothes → A nice dress I can just slip on

This is how I've been living lately.
There are other hurdles like my child's nap time or baby food schedule,
but I feel like I can handle the challenges related to myself this way.

I still have a long way to go before I can dress up and decorate my days like Carrie.