ZEN MENTALITY

"I want to be like water. I want to slip 
through fingers, but hold up a ship"

- Michelle Williams

 

Overthinking is so severely entrenched in the person that I am that there's no separation from it. I prefer the term: philosophical. That's why you read what I write isn't it? Because my head of thoughts is somehow interesting. But there is a certain level of healthy thinking and once upon a time it was too much, emotions exaggerated the amount of thinking necessary. Now I've learnt to let go a lot more, to just go with the flow of life and not overthink, because "worrying is a waste of time. It doesn't change anything. It messes with your mind and steals your happiness." 

As I said, there is a healthy amount of thinking, the ability to analyse is our ability to survive. But the thing is, most of the ideas we worry about don't even come true because (compliment or not) humans have quite wild imaginations these days. My new mentality is I will deal with it when it actually manifests into reality because why create issues in your mind when 80% of the time it won't even happen? Unless there is something you can do in the immediate present to prevent a highly probable future, there's no point being emotionally overwhelmed by it. Let that negative thought go and be free.

There are too many 'what ifs' in life, and we can sit around contemplating every single one that we forget to actually live. Be more easygoing and care-free, learn to live a bit and just go with what life throws you. Decide to take chances. Go for that job, that relationship, that holiday. Some of the best things in life are the ones that push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Open yourself to new opportunities and take a leap of faith.     

In travelling news, this is Kyoto: a beautiful city of rich historical Japanese culture. This isn't a pub crawl or bar hop, call my humor poor but my little brother and I fell silent, stared at each other then burst out laughing when we came to the same sudden realisation that we were going 'temple running' (*gaming reference). Five temples in one day, because Kyoto is summarised perfectly with that: their endless temples. One of the five planned temples we were going to run that day was Kiyomizu-dera. The temple of the Goddess of Mercy.

The Japanese expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" means "to take the plunge". When making decisions regarding opportunities, clear your mind from all immediate emotions. Ask yourself, if you don't do this will you regret it? Most of the time we don't actually care too much and won't regret not taking the opportunity up, so why continue to stress about it? Just let it go. Other times we can tell we will regret it if we don't take up the opportunity, so forget your fear and jump off that stage at Kiyomizu and just Nike it (translation: take a leap of faith and just do it)! The worse feeling isn't having done something, it's wishing you did.

 

Besides the temples, we also visited the famous Fushimi-Inari Shrine which is where all the famous endless red shrine gates are located. There was something so mesmerising when passing through those gates like a religious tunnel replenishing the soul with the soft winter chill of Japan. 

In no Kyoto relation, please also enjoy these beautiful photos of Osaka Castle. I was immediately captivated by its Tiffany Blue tiles and gold accents as my eyes approached it. A truly beautiful piece of history with touches of modern beauty. I hope you fall just-as-much in love with them as I did, and I hope you are able to one day travel to this amazing city of Osaka and see it with your very own naked eye. A small tourist attraction but conveniently located within the city.  

 ZARA Oxblood Red Coat / Jolie & Deen Crop Sweater

H&M Pink Stripe Top / Lareina Grey Coat / Zn High-waisted Denim Skirt / 

Colorado Tights / Lareina Knee-high Boots / MAKU STORE Backpack