Firstly, I'd like to extend my best wishes for the new year to everyone who is reading this. I hope you, your friends and families are blessed this year with all the good health, prosperity and happiness that you all deserve.
Alcohol is the second consumable and addictive substance I have used over a long term which I have quit using. The other is nicotine. This might sound glib, but I found quitting smoking to be fairly stress free. Once I finished the pack of Nicorette gum that I bought for myself way back in 2012, I have never once considered polluting my lungs with tobacco fumes. Refraining from drinking has been more of an adventure; and one I want to write about.
The road signs on my journey to becoming a climate activist are marked by the following: two countries, two disasters, two fossils. And, above all else, my internationalist appreciation for the value of life; be it in our own neighborhoods, halfway around the world or in the future, has been my guiding light in encouraging others to join this fight.
A variation of this sign has been seen at pro wrestling events over the years, stating that 'if (X Wrestler) wins, we riot'. This version of the sign prophesizes strife that could occur should the climate crisis not be tackled. The result should the world not move be grave for human rights.
Sometimes one can be fatalistic and indifferent to the customs, attitudes and processes we encounter in Japan. However, a deeper dive into a lot of it's consumer habits reveals a problem that needs to be urgently addressed against a backdrop of a dying planet.
An exchange that I had two years in a row piqued my curiosity. Why was my dining partner so convinced of a Korean takeover of Sydney?
