Tokyo Photo Walk 6

Its been a while since we went for a photowalk. Today we are in Sapporo Hokkaido where there are a bunch of roadworks going on. Dont know what it is about Japanese roadworks but they look cool at night.

Roadworks are usually carried out during the day in residential areas and at night in central areas which does not usually bother folks who are trying to get a bit of kip at night.

Going for a short walk tonight but think its enough time to get across what I would like to talk about - death.
Its the final destination that we *all* share and yet I find it interesting that we don't think about it as often as we should.

Okuribito (Departures) is a Japanese directed film all about death which won quite a few awards.
A TV program went around streets promoting the film and asking the question "what do you think of death?"
Most of the answers were like "I don't want to think about it", "Its scary" and "I don't want to leave my family."

I think another reason why some folks don't think about death is that they are under the impression that death is for elderly folks. News of people dying in accidents, killings and from sudden illness should be enough to make us realize that death can happen anytime to anyone.

So what happens when we die? Well your guess is as good as mine. But there is one thing for sure - we will either die with peace of mind that we lived our dreams or die regretting that we didn't take that leap of faith.

And yet many of us still go about our lives following the path of what modern society has laid out for us - birth > schooling > work > retire on pension > death. Now I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with this path. Folks can lead fulfilling lives this way but I know there are many folks out there asking the question "what if?"

The "what if" question could be changing jobs, choosing a subject of study, choosing a partner, taking a trip - whatever. The only person who can answer the "what if question" is yourself and unless you take that leap of faith then you will never find the answer you are looking for.

Today's post is for those who are either stuck in a rut, unhappy with what they are doing or keep having the "what if" question repeating itself in their head.
Hopefully, by having a grasp on the reality of death, one should be feeling that time is running out - time which is needed to explore and answer unanswered questions.

Cant find the link to the statistics but I saw that the percentage of natural deaths is very low - something like 5%. This definition of Natural Death is where one goes to sleep and never wakes up - a peaceful and apparently painless death. My grandfather looked completely fine one day but didn't wake up after that night.

The remaining 95% die from being killed in an accident (or by somebody) or from some disease like cancer, breaking down of the internal organs, heart attack, Alzheimers and what have you.

But I beleive there is something more horrible than dying a painful death - and that is living life and then die regretting that one had the ability to seek answers but chose not to.
Time is running out. And to make the game more interesting - we don't know how much time is left.
Remember that doing nothing will always gain nothing but doing something will gain some sort of result.