Until Next Year

I wrote this post in Notepad last Friday (December 5, 2008) and forgot to post it. It's late, but still valid.

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Today marked my last day at Higashi School until 2009. Sounds like a pretty heavy statement, huh? It is.

This week, in terms of class frequency, starting Monday and ending today, looked like a bell curve. One class on Monday, a few more on Tuesday, Wednesday was the most at four, then Thursday down again, Friday (today) with only one. It went really well.

So as I was wrapping up today's class, I told the kids I'd see them next year. Then I told them I'd see them next year, in Japanese. They flipped out! They had no idea, nor did I expect them too. As third graders, perhaps as with any kid before puberty, I'm not sure they've developed the long-term classification of time that many people use to mark how long they've lived since birth (and guess how long they have until death). I like that, not worrying about it.

Imagine living a life without a (self-constructed or otherwise imposed) sense of urgency, or worry. A day is just a day. Tomorrow is tomorrow and will come without holdup. Yesterday will be forgotten. Is there really anything wrong with this kind of rhythm?

From what I've seen in these past 15 months, kids don't worry too much about what's next. They're guided and instructed by their teachers and while I think this kind of instruction is necessary (I'm not proposing absolute ignorance - that's impractical), it need not be restricting.

Too many people seem to be living a life of "what's next?" Though they may have things very well, they want to make things better. Maybe they think that wanting something better is the only way to be happy? I used to think like that. Better is fine, but you don't have to be miserable trying to get there.

After a few years at the Fed, I started to wonder about my next career move. I could have stayed another year and gotten a nice pay raise over $60,000, plus 100% of my employers 401(k) contributions. Friends were also leaving for well-paying private sector jobs, and I thought, "It'd be nice to try something new and make a little more money." Finally, due to being inspired by my time on, and after, the Mongol Rally, I decided to put my cultural interest ahead of my financial one. And it has made me happiest so far.

You may be tempted to ask me, "Son of Higashi, what are you going to do next, after JET?" I don't have an answer for you now. But I'm not worried about it, about what's next.