I just finished reading a very encouraging article by Danny Choo. Go read it, then come back here. Or just enjoy his site and don’t come back. Fine, be that way.
Oh, you’re back? Well, thanks! Danny’s article made me think about this whole Japanese thing and where I’m going with it. During this quest to learn Japanese–well, ‘quest’ makes me think it’s like Legend of Zelda or something, but I’m not looking for the Triforce, at least I think not–anyway, during this journey to learning Japanese, I have frequently stopped myself to ask ‘why’. Why am I using my spare time to learn Japanese? Why am I manufacturing spare time in order to study kanji? What’s the point? Part of this is latent negativity, the sort of I-can’t-do-this-this-is-crazy nonsense that all of us hear sometimes. I’ve started asking myself, ‘Why not?’
I don’t have a particular excuse to learn Japanese. I can’t say ‘oh, I’m getting a job at Sony next year, so I need to learn it quick’. I don’t have family there, just a handful of friends I met through Mixi and other social networking. I don’t have a financial reason to learn Japanese, nor a spiritual reason, like I feel like I’m ‘destined’ to do it or whatever.
I just have that desire, and I believe that that desire is enough. Danny Choo didn’t know why he wanted to go to Japan, he just wanted to go there. That’s where I am. I’m not going to worry about the ‘why’ from now on. I’m just going to respond, ‘why not?’ and keep on going, keep on chugging away at what I’m passionate about and not ask why.
what they said