Self, mind and dialogue.

Last month in Kyoto, I finally had a chance to visit the Keibunsha bookshop, where I came across this book called Unmeasurable Things that I finished reading in one sitting.

I was at first drawn by the illustration on the cover, and soon noticed the three kanji words above the illustration that basically conclude the book — “self”, “mind” and “dialogue”. Unmeasurable Things collects 49 pieces of Ayumi Kudo’s one-line poetry and illustration. Written in three languages including Japanese, English and Italian, the poems used the theme “unmeasurable things” as a direct and straightforward departure point to discuss the ups and downs, sweetness and bitterness in a relationship. When reading the book, there are moments where I would stop and feel some of my sentiments being understood; the poems are just like a hug from a friend.

The emotions that cannot be expressed through numbers, the mood and effect they inflict… Everything connected to our mind is so vivid, but there is no way for us to have it examined like what we do to our physical body.

measure the darkness in a heart /

measure the distance between your hopes and mine /

measure the silence after you’ve gone /

measure the exact angle from which something good could fall /

measure the angle needed to see the world correctly

Although the lines describe moments of bitterness, the illustrations are playfully childish. After going through a bad time, one would perhaps understand that sunrise and sunset are only the routine of nature that we need to follow; afterward, we would be able to talk about the depressing days with a sense of humor. Be open to face your emotion and try to sort them up a bit, I guess there is always something in the book that you can identify with.