Lifting a finger to write about 'The Good of Japan'

For the past few days I have felt unable to post a blog. For one thing, I broke my little finger recently; and typing has been a one-handed affair. At first I thought I would just let it drop; but then I thought that anyone who has followed my blog posts from the beginning deserves an explanation. If there is such a person 'out there' please let me know as, at the moment, I don't know if I am simply 'wittering' into cyberspace. I say 'wittering' because I'm not on 'Twitter' at the moment (which I was quite scathing about in my previous post). However, it may come to that: I've succumbed to Facebook, LinkedIn and now Blogger, so who knows?

But what has all this got to do with Japan? (you may be asking). Well it's this: I started writing this blog to comment about things in the Media which I find noteworthy, strange, amusing or whatever. And, of course, Japan comes into the 'whatever'  category at the moment. Anywhere one looks, it's there. It has touched me emotionally, as it has many people. It has stopped me in my tracks as there is so much in the Media; and it's all so overwhelming. It can all scare the 'living daylights' out of you. Certainly stifle any creativity you may have.

So, on the advice of those who say, 'practice an attitude of gratitude' I say 'How lucky I am to have only broken my little finger'. It is painful and an inconvenient nuisance but apart from that, life is mostly going on as normal. I hope it will be very soon for our fellow human beings in Japan.

I also want to say 'thank you' that my friend Makiko, from Hiroshima, and her family are all safe. My Japanese friend Akemi, who lives in the UK also tells me that her family and friends are safe; and I see from Facebook that other Japanese friends and acquaintances are safe. Good things. Maybe not much in the scheme of things - but good. Ultimately, I believe human beings are born to be good and are born to create.

Talking of creativity, Akemi (or 'Koshu', as she is known in the calligraphy world) teaches beautiful brush lettering. You can look at some of her work here:  http://koshujapaneseart.co.uk   I used to take calligraphy lessons with Akemi; and I'll probably take some more - when my finger is better.