Hirayama, the protagonist of Wim Wender’s film Perfect Days, follows routines. He wakes up, tends to his plants, and chooses music that will set the tone for his day. He works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, lunches in the same park, and reads a few pages before turning out the light and sleeping. In watching how his days unfold, I was struck by how often Hirayama looks up.
When leaving his house, he looks up and checks the sky. During lunch he observes the tops of trees, trying to photograph the elusive moments of sunlight filtering through the leaves. I discovered that Japanese has a word, komorebi, for the sense of beauty and tranquility we get from looking at how the sunlight dapples a forest floor. These patterns of light and dark are always changing, so the same location constantly presents a different view.
Hirayama’s habit of looking up got me to consider my own routines. I look down when I work on the computer and check my phone. Even when walking I tend to look down to avoid stumbling and falling. What a contrast to childhood when I would lie on my back in the yard and look up at the clouds. When we grow up, we stop looking up, and we lose those moments of wonder and that daily connection with nature.
Why not make looking up a part of your daily routine? Are you ready to change your perspective and look up too?
I’m Frances Jaeger, and that is my Perspective
