carissa

“All experience adds up to a life lived as only you could. I feel sure the day will come when you can say: this is my life.”
― Durian Sukegawa, Sweet Bean Paste

“I remember it clearly. It was a night of the full moon, and I was walking alone in the woods. By then I had already begun Listening to the whispers of trees, and to the voices of insects and birds. On this night, the moon cast its pale, brilliant light on everything around me, and energy seemed to radiate from trees swaying in the wind. While I was alone on that path in the woods, I came face-to-face with the moon. And oh, what a beautiful moon it was! I was enchanted. It made me forget everything I had suffered ... The next thing, I thought I heard a voice that sounded very much like the moon whispering to me. It said:

I wanted you to see me.
That's why I shine like this.

From then on I began to see everything differently. If I were not here, this full moon would not be here. Neither would the trees. Or the wind. If my view of the world disappears, then everything that I see disappears too. It's as simple as that.

...This idea changed me. I began to understand that we were born in order to see and listen to the world. And that's all this world wants of us. My life had meaning.”
― Durian Sukegawa, Sweet Bean Paste

“Whether you want to or not. But the place you return to is always slightly different from the place you left. That’s the rule. It can never be exactly the same.” A”
― Haruki Murakami, Men Without Women

“If all you ever see is reality, you just want to die.”
― Durian Sukegawa, Les délices de Tokyo