August 11 / 2009
Tomorrow begins another week long forced holiday.
When you work at a job that pays you by the hour, these “holiday’s” really blow.
Feels like we just had a week long holiday.. oh yeah, WE DID. It was called “Golden Week” back in May. Or, as I like to call it, “God Damn Week”.
Looking at my calender, I am blown away by the fact that we will have ANOTHER week long forced holiday next month too!
Ya know, if I worked a salary job I would be singing a different tune. But, like so many, I rely on actually BEING AT WORK to pay my bills. No paid holidays for this blue collar. No “bonuses”, and no “benefits”. But in today’s economic state, felt all over the world, I really don’t have much to complain about. I continue to look on the bright side (for lack of a better term), and count my damn blessings. (haha, even I found that cynicism funny).
Things can ALWAYS be worse. Infinitely worse. You don’t really need to try very hard, or look very far, to notice people who have it much worse than you do.
What I like to boil it down to is this; instead of looking at what other people have and what I don’t, I look at what I do have and do my damn best with it. I haven’t always made the best decisions with what I have, but that’s life. You live and learn, and do better next time.
Instead of moaning about the huge loss of money because of these forced holidays, I will turn it into an OPPORTUNITY.
I am not leaving my apartment for the entire week! I will sacrifice a few things here and there to get through the small pay period to come, and this whole week locked away in my apartment I will use the opportunity to spend more time with my daughter (good point #1) and also WRITE SOME TUNES! (good point #2).
We have been getting A LOT of fucked-up weather these days. (Wait, do earth quakes count as “weather”? ) Anyway, a big one on Sunday night, another big one this morning, and NOW I am hearing news 13 people died just south of us because of a typhoon. Torrential rains and flooding. Man, sure puts my lame pay period in perspective. This is not the ongoing tragedies of Africa, the Middle East, North Korea or South America which usually haunt my conscience and weigh my heart. This is my own backyard. Just a few hours drive away, people have lost everything, including their very lives.
This month’s week long holiday is called “Obon”. Where we are supposed to remember our dead. Thank them for the remaining impact of how what they have done for us still effects our lives, and honor them with remembrance. The “Obon Festival” stems from India, rooted in the Buddhist beliefs of the Ullambana Sutra, and the Japanese people believe that during the Obon Festival their ancestor’s Spirit’s return home. So naturally, it is during this time that all the families gather together.
I believe Obon is also a time of self-reflection. To meditate on your own life, as well as the lives of the departed. To reflect, to collect joy and thankfulness- not just for getting the things in life you desire, but more importantly the joy of being shown the truth- the joy of awareness.
Though I am without a family to celebrate Obon with, I can still maintain an inner and outward expression of celebration. Obon has reminded me to continue to remember, honor and love my departed father, and to show care and respect towards my mother. To be thankful for the gift of fatherhood myself, and to strive for a practice of selfless giving. Not to just my family and beloved friends- but to all beings.
Considering all the above mentioned, instead of complaining about the week long holiday, and subsequent loss of wages, I have more than enough things in my life to shut-the-fuck-up about and be thankful for.
