A few weeks ago, I decided to take myself on a date and go to a cute little independent cinema where I watched the recent Japanese film ‘Perfect Days’ starring Koji Yakusho and directed by Wim Wenders. I arrived at the cinema calm and slightly smug at my independent and rather spontaneous decision to go by myself. I left the cinema feeling emotionally uplifted, in awe of the beauty and class of this film whilst simultaneously experiencing an explosion of different thoughts in my mind on the expectations society forces on success and happiness, and living a slow life in a fast-paced city.
The film centres around protagonist Hirayama (Yakusho), a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Without explaining too much of the film’s plot, it largely focuses on how Hirayama goes about his day-to-day life content at his job, his routine, and in finding small connections with people, objects and living things around him that bring him happiness. He seeks no monetary gain, lives in a humble house equipped with everything he needs to live, spends his free time listening to cassette tapes (bearing in mind the film is set in the modern day) and reading philosophical essays. He is an avid photographer and has a vast collection of photos that all centre around a particular tree which he is ‘friends’ with. I’d like to relate the concepts I picked up on in this film to life here in London in your 20s.
The film inspired me to think about how much time I spend looking at my phone, how much social media has consumed our modern society, and how living in London can feel so overwhelming. The fast pace of the city, the business of the tube at all hours of the day, and constant, inescapable noise, all contribute to an idea that in order to be successful in London, or indeed any big city, you need to maintain the same tempo as the goings on around you. People working in London seem to live by the same formula: wake up, go to the gym, commute to work, work all day, commute back home, sleep (obviously not the same for everyone, but for a broad generalisation of corporate life). ‘Perfect Days’ focusses so much on the periods of liminality: periods of time during the day when you aren’t working, or exercising, or doing anything to push you forward and earn you money. Instead, it focuses on the time when you travel to and from work, the time you spend before bed and the seemingly unimportant human interactions that you have each day. It presents this idea that, although you may live in a fast-paced city, it doesn’t mean you have to spend every single day rushing from one thing to the other in order to be successful. In fact, by slowing down, taking in your surroundings, and relishing in the moments of nothingness, you can actually find a lot more happiness and productivity. City life in itself is so difficult – what with the cost of living, the unreliable nature of public transport, balancing work and social life. It’s easy to forget that the moments in between things, events and work, are equally important moments of our life that could be appreciated and have the potential to change the course of your day.
There’s a wonderful part in the film where Hirayama plays an anonymous game of noughts and crosses; one day he finds a piece of paper tucked into the wall in one of the toilets he is cleaning, he is about to throw it away when he opens it to see a game of noughts and crosses drawn, with one cross on it so far. He decides to draw a nought on it and places it back in the same place he found it, and over the next few days he comes back there is a new cross in place. This moment – where human interaction is absent because he cannot see his opponent, and yet, audiences see him feel a sense of joy and contentment – is a testament to the positive power of human connection. It is a common idea in this world that we need to have deep, intense, all-sharing friendships in order to be happy, and whilst these things are of course lovely, it is also in the simple, the mundane and the unexpected that, as I have spoken about in one of my earlier articles, moments of magic are created.
After I watched this film, I walked back home through Trafalgar Square and along the Strand without my headphones on, which I usually always have on whilst going anywhere. Although it is a great mood booster to listen to music or a podcast, the film really instilled in me a desire to make an effort to appreciate what is present, and what events, sounds, and sights fall into my life as I walk by. I didn’t notice anything particularly special on this walk, but the conscious effort to take in my surroundings, and to think of all the individual lives bustling around me made me feel so grateful for just being! I felt happiness spread over me as I acknowledged the simple truth that I am in good health mentally and physically, I know who my good friends are and am making new ones, I am in education growing my ambition and enthusiasm for learning and creating, and all these things are enough to make me happy and are unique successes. I haven’t achieved anything tangible that society deems as a spectacular indicator of success and therefore happiness, and yet, in that moment of nothingness, walking home through early evening London, I felt so content. This, I think, is an important reminder for anyone living in London: that happiness is not determined by success, and happiness can be something that you find in the seemingly insignificant moments of life.
Of course, finding moments of happiness is not always that simple. Hormones, unpleasant interactions with others and all sorts of external events can cause your mood to disallow you to appreciate minute bursts of joy. There are, however, different things we can do to try and slow down, feel our negative emotions and let them pass in their own time. The internet trend of the ‘hot girl walk’ is a great example of this: taking the time in your day to go outside and just stroll with no intention other than to put one foot in front of the other. There is no shame in taking some time during your day or week to slow down. It’s as easy as thinking of 3 things you are grateful for right at one moment, or taking your headphones out when ordering a coffee to talk to the barista and sincerely wish them a good day, or even just closing your eyes on the tube and letting your other senses take over to see what new things you notice. Something I often do to calm down in moments of stress, or when I can feel my thoughts spiralling, or just to try and be present, is utilise the ‘count down from 5’ method. I list 5 things I can see, 4 things I can hear, 3 things I can smell, 2 things I can feel, and 1 thing I can taste. Grounding yourself in the moment – even one seemingly inconsequential – and appreciating that you only live one life, where every minute has the potential to bring you happiness, is still a skill I am trying to practise, and probably won’t ever master anytime soon. All this to say, I hope that, one day, I can bask in the knowledge that I have the ability to create my own happiness and success, regardless of what the media and society try to say.
I hope that you feel inspired to watch ‘Perfect Days’ and try to implement the art of slower living – perhaps you’ll get something else out of it than I have. Perhaps take a second to consider that your path to success and happiness won’t cease just because you take a moment to slow down. Success and happiness are what you make it, and you can make it anything you want!