Last night Akira and Hiroko came for dinner. Koji couldn't make it. We had tater tot casserole, salad, baked potatoes, croissants, and corn. It was fun. Next week we're going to Hiroko's house.
They brought me some beans for today, which is "Setsubun". This is where you throw a handful out of your house and say "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" (Devil is out, luck is in). I did it at home at at work. (I'll take all the luck I can get!). We also talked about their upcoming wedding, things to do during spring vacation, etc.
I called home to wish mom a happy birthday. She wasn't there the first time I called (at 7:00 a.m. She was out picking up a birthday cake to take to school!).
Went to sleep at 10:30, but got an idea for a story so stayed up until 11:15 writing that. At the end of this entry I'm going to write it here.
Today I recopied my story which I may use if I have to give testimony at KIBC. I copied some music for choir, and copied a section from "Medea" in Japanese for my English Drama class.
I need to work on my book and units for English Drama, so it could be a busy day, but my hand is getting tired from all this writing.
Anyway, here's the story I wrote last night:
The Negativites of Negativonia
Once upon a time there was a land called Negativonia. No one was happy there. The adults were negative, the children were negative, and even the dogs and cats were negative. Nothing good ever happened, because when it did people only looked for, and saw, the bad points.
If there was a good harvest, the people would point out that the harvest twelve years ago was better or that they probably wouldn't get much rain now, so next years crop would be planted in very dry soil and not grow well, and that they'd feast this year, but starve next year.
If it was someone's birthday, they didn't have parties and celebrate. They pointed out that they were a year older, and that it had been a difficult year, and the next would probably be even more difficult.
Nothing was ever built, or repaired in Negativonia, because people didn't think it would be worth the effort, because a tornado could come and blow it down, or a fire could destroy all their work, and then they'd have to do it all over again. So, you can imagine what their town must have looked like!
As children grew up in Negativonia, they became more and more negative. They started out like boys and girls from any other town, but the influence of all the other people gradually made them like their friends, family, and neighbors. They started out by complaining about playing, then, as they grew older, school, then dating, then their jobs, and the negativity increased year by year.
Old people were so negative, that a stranger passing through town would in no way be able to convince them that it was a nice day, even it it was, and they weren't just making "small talk".
People who moved to town, and left after a short time were generally unaffected, but not totally. They came in positive and full of hope and expectation, but got burdened down by all the negativity around them, and started to act the same way. However, whether through realizing that they didn't like being that way, or because Negativonia didn't offer what they wanted, they moved away and the effects of their stay vanished with time.
Negativity was easy for the people of Negativonia, because they used it all the time, for everything. Things built upon themselves here.
If the person was a teacher, first the days would be too long, then the work too time consuming, then the students unmotivated, then the administration ineffective and unsympathetic, then the school system in need of reform...and on and on.
If the person worked in one of the village businesses it started with lunch hours being too short, then work hours too long, then inconsiderate coworkers, then unfeeling bosses, and it went on and on, too.
Anyway, the Negativites, as they were called, had a custom, handed down from generation to generation, and, as with most customs, the Negativites had no idea why they did it, or what it really meant, but of course, they always did it each year, because it was, after all, tradition.
On the 3rd Sunday in March of each year, just after the close of their school year (in which the older Negativites were sure the children would forget everything they learned during that term, and the children were sure they would be bored the entire break), they participated in something called "Positive Thing Day".
They all gathered in the village square in a circle, and each person said something positive. It didn't matter what, but they just had to say something positive. Some people thought of things in a fairly short time (and were scowled at by the older, and more negative people around the circle), but most took many minutes to think of something to say that was positive.
The problem was, you see, that since they had no idea where this custom originated, or why they were doing it, it didn't mean anything. Year after year they got into the circle on the 3rd Sunday in March, after the close of the school year, and said something they didn't truly feel. Some people even wrote something on a piece of paper at some point during the year to "get through it quicker" on that special day.
It happened one year, however, that a stranger was passing through town on "Positive Thing Day", and after listening for awhile, unnoticed, asked what they were doing. They replied in their usual bored, negative way that it was "Positive Thing Day", and that this was a town tradition.
The stranger asked what "Positive Thing Day" was, and why they held it , and one of the more optimistic townsmen, explained what they did this each year on the 3rd Sunday of March after the close of their school year, but was stumped when asked again, "why"? And because it was a tradition, and like most traditions no one knew why it was done or what it meant, no one in the circle could come up with an explanation.
The stranger, seeing several people holding pieces of paper in their hands then asked what they were. An old Negativite replied sourly that at some point during the year people wrote something down to say that sounded positive for the 3rd Sunday in March, after the close of the school year just to "speed the darned thing up".
The stranger frowned, and asked if he might be allowed to say something positive, even though he was "just passing through". Several people voted "no", because he was a stranger, but this particular year there were many younger Negativites who hadn't been pounded by negativity long enough to be truly sour. They voted, "I suppose".
The stranger began to speak, but was interrupted by the Negativonian mayor (who had voted no, and was looking for a way to stop this interruption). The mayor pulled out a dusty copy of the town constitution and read "a strangers comments, when submitted on 'Positive Thing Day' must be written out, and read by a native Negativite". It could not be read by a non-Negativite, you see. The mayor continued, "Furthermore, the writer can not be present when his comments are read". (Traditions always have little twists, or unusual by-laws that "pop up" when convenient).
So, the stranger shrugged his shoulders, and continued on his way. After he left, one of the younger Negativites, who was 20- the age of allowance into the circle on "Positive Thing Day", opened the note and read the following:
"Positivity is not just a few words scrawled on a piece of paper, or blankly thrown from a person's mouth. It's a feeling, it is being alive, and not restricted to a wheelchair or a sick bed.
It's being able to walk, unrestricted, to places you want to go, and not forced to march to places you don't. It's taking time to notice the world around you and how many wonderful things are in it. It's rejoicing in family and friends.
Positivity is believing in God, and knowing that he is there for you any time that you need him, and will watch over you even when you think you don't need him to.
Positivity is life itself...watched over by God, sought out by you, and shared with others."
From that point on the people of Negativonia started trying to mean what they said on the 3rd Sunday of March, after the close of the school year, in the circle, on "Positive Thing Day".
It would be unrealistic to say that they changed overnight, but from that point on people began to realize why they got together on "Positive Thing Day", and, maybe, why their forefathers had a "Positive Thing Day' to begin with.
The end.
No comments:
Post a Comment