Wanderings in the Land of the Rising Sun – Part II

I’ve walked many a trail to claim escape from the ever-tightening grip of burdens – reminding myself that each step puts needed distance between me and that which seems determined to consume.

I have tried to place a description of my journey in Japan into a neat little box, but the words elude me.

However, I am content in being dumbfounded.

The energy in Japan was a calm – unlike one that I’ve ever experienced in the States.

In the land of my birth – I am always cognizant of where I am, how my presence may be interpreted.

As a Black man from America in a foreign land.

I realized that I am essentially in a perpetual state of threat assessment, but I learned that this defense mechanism wasn’t needed here – and I began to breathe, deeply.

Deeper than I had in a long time.

As I walked the bustling streets of Kyoto – to the winding trails of the temples in the hillsides around Kyoto.

My threat assessment matrix…

Those survival strategies that serve me so well in the USA began to throttle down – fading into the background like an app on my Smartphone.

I likened it to finding those alternating frequencies of self.

Everything was so deliberately ordered within the confines of a higher order.

The streams that intersected with paths, the trees that gave way to the sky – despite the roving crowds of people – the echoes of solace flooded the sacred grounds.