JAFARECMy job is almost at the volunteer level in terms of earning. It’s only a few hundred yen an hour. My hourly workload isn’t high, but I’m always on standby and the line between work and personal life is blurred. It’s like play, like work, and that’s the way it is in everyday life. It is very different from the way people think of work. It’s more like playfulness.
But I’m proud to say that I take it more graciously and seriously than anyone else in terms of supporting people who are facing problems. And it’s not a matter of money. The bottom line is that in order to do it seriously, you need to be relaxed. If you push yourself too hard and break your body or have an accident, it’s all for nothing.
So, my life… I’m very busy, but I also have a lot of leeway. I have a good time for cooking and gardening. It’s fun for me and makes other people happy. It’s not a pleasure to buy something with money, and it’s not a pleasure to brag to others. It’s the joy of making things by yourself, with your own senses, your own decisions, your own actions, with others.
I don’t think that the current situation in society will continue forever, nor do I think that the government or money will protect me in the future. This is the basic attitude I had since I was a child, when I had difficulty adjusting to society. I have been living in this way for a long time, and I have been able to live quite comfortably and richly without making any mistakes or failures.
I am not optimistic about the world in the future, and I am aware of the danger that the government and money will not be as reliable as they have been in the past, or even worse than they have been in the past, and if we rely on them, we will end up in a terrible mess. So, in order to live in a comfortable world from now on, we have to start preparing now…little by little…. How to prepare for our assets, how to hedge risks, how to maintain our bodies and minds, how to secure food, water, and energy… We need to take into account all these factors and prepare in a balanced way.
If you are able to do these things on a daily basis, you will be able to survive earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters, and even if the Great Depression, food crises, or even wars happen, the chances of survival will be much higher. And if those crises don’t come, the preparations will not go to waste.
The world of the future… comfort is something you create for yourself… it’s not something someone else can give you or buy you… especially a low-class citizen like me… an “unpatriotic” citizen.
Originally posted on October 3, 2020
English text translated with DeepL (Japanese to English) and checked by Mina.
