Slowing to Look Around

This evening, I set out for a solo walk to, and around, Osaka Castle Park. Nothing particularly eventful about that. Essentially, it was an identical route to the path I’ve been taking on my runs each day whilst we’ve been here. With that in mind, I found it interesting just how many things I’d missed along the way while being absorbed in a run. Little boutique coffee shops. A large park next to a school. More Japanese-run Italian restaurants. Walking on the other side of the road can change your perspective drastically. As does just moving with your head up. It seems painfully obvious, but I noticed far more by actively looking around than I would had my eyes been studying Google Maps or if I was running, with a gaze generally fixed straight ahead.

Similarly, I made an effort to pick a different route once inside the castle. Move away from the runners and through the garden instead. Along the narrow pathways next to the moat. Here, I found some beautiful blossoms, a man strumming a loving guitar song, friends sitting in the grass, and an elusive glimpse of sun—the pink kind—amongst an otherwise gloomy day. I sat next to a tree and read my book. It was blissful.

Finally, to get home, I ventured to a different train station. It was a really cool area. One I hadn’t explored before. Adding one stop to my return journey was a very price to pay for the insight.

I suppose the point of this post is that you can always see things through a new light, even a well-trodden path. Sometimes all it takes is to move more slowly, with more awareness, and an appreciate for the mundane journey it takes to reach your destination, not just the destination itself.