Is today special to you?

I still remember this amazing gentleman in his mid eighties, who happened to be in a Queens Sunnyside library in New York a couple of years ago.

He was talking to a female librarian:

“How are you doing today, young lady?”
“Good, sir. and you?”

“I’m great and today is special for me!”

(Hearing him saying this, I then turned my attention to him, wondering what’s special about.)

“What’s so special about?”  (Nice question librarian!)

“Well… because I’m still alive today!“

Wow……It really got me thinking and changed the way I thought about time and life.
I used to not care so much about special days such as New year or birthday, since I thought they wouldn’t change anything fundamental.

But at some point, I came to think differently: you can put meaning to any day and that will be your special day. Although I cannot think everyday as precious as that gentleman at the library, I began to seek for the meaning, so that one day which would have been no different from other day could mean something and that I can act differently.

August 17, 2007
That was the date I left Japan for New York, with lots of expectations and anxieties in me. I thought I could do anything back then.

7 years have passed since then and this is the beginning of my 8th year. It does not matter if I live in Japan or other country. What matters is that this data can remind me of an opportunity to re-initiate my life and move on further.

In this sense, If I put meaning to more and more days, everyday could be special for me, just like that gentleman at the library. Depending on how you consider everyday life, it can be a same old routine or something special.

I guess everyone has some sort of special days.
What are your special day(s)?

～Today is special, because I am still alive～ Gentleman@ Queens library