Spirituality
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Walking around Beppu
When people think of Beppu, the first thing that comes to mind is hot springs. Why’s that? Well, Beppu just happens to have a lot of hot springs. Tourists tend to flock here specifically to visit 8 of their hot springs. Although I was one of those people that wanted to see these touristy hot springs, it’s safe to say that Beppu has a lot more to see than its hot springs. I took a bit of a walk around the city and this is what I ran into.
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Blessings from Nikko Toshogu Shrine
Nikko was a place I looked forward to visiting. Unfortunately, as some of you already know from my blog, I had a rather subpar experience with Nikko. When I was in Japan again, I thought about giving Nikko a second chance however destiny seemed to have other plans for me. The day I was en route to Nikko, I ended up not transferring trains so that on a whim, I could visit and experience Sendai. Honestly, I can’t be any happier about that last minute change of plans as Sendai was such a breath of fresh air for me.
As disappointing as Nikko was, I must say that something good did come out of my trip. At Nikko’s Toshogu Shrine, I got blessed by a Shinto priest. More on this in a moment.
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The Forgotten Shrine in Matsushiro
Peace, tranquility and alone time. These are the things I want right now. As much as I’d love to get up and fly to a remote island, I just can’t do that right now. Okay, so if a colleague of mine’s can go to England, I suppose I can go somewhere, but would I? I wouldn’t. For as long as the coronavirus exists, I will not have the nerve to risk myself and others to the coronavirus for the sake of having a so-called good time. I think it’s selfish, yet at the same time, I understand why people have this desire to get away. It’s a coping mechanism from the craziness that revolves around covid. Either that or they’re just in denial that covid exists and feel entitled to enjoying life as they please.