Caution to the wind
A quest for the correct balance between being too careful and not being careful enough
If you adhere to the supposed collective wisdom of “what people say” too literally, you might find yourself in uncomfortable territory. People say “you can never be too careful,” but I find that the hyperanalysis of being too careful – planning, organising, contingencies – makes me anxious. When I moved to Japan in my late twenties, I didn’t understand much of what was going on around me in the beginning, so I had little cause to worry. People could have been gossiping about me and I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t read what I assumed must be bills that came in the mail. I’d catch images of a typhoon on the news and just think: that could be a tropical storm from anywhere. My teaching colleagues at Tōyo Nishi Junior High School had some impassioned debates at our staff meetings, but what they were getting worked up about, I couldn’t tell you.
