前回に引き続き、TEDのスピーチを聞いてessayを塾生に書いて頂きました。今回は3名の作品を載せます。

People tend to sustain and understand themselves by their own.  I am one of them, and whenever I try to face myself deeply, I need time and spaces where I am able to detach from others.

But today, I have come across a new way of doing some soul-searching.  And that is sharing spaces with others whose names you don’t know, like your neighbors.  You might be skeptical for that because what neighbors know is where you live, and what your family name is, at most. 

Surprisingly, however, public spaces that you and locals use have great meaning.  If people get opportunities to have voices in there, your image for each would dramatically change.  Imagine, a man seems always very busy at work, and has a dream of being surrounded by sweets!  In order to know him better, no other information like his age or his occupation would be more useful than his lifelong goal. 

Finally, I believe knowing others has some stimulus to knowing yourself, because you are always a member of social communities.  (N.S.)

“Live without regret”.

I think this is the most important thing in our life.

As the speaker, Candy Chong, lost her loving person suddenly and unexpectedly, my friend, my family, or someone close to me might die tomorrow. So I think we have to make good use of our time and live without regret.

When I was 9 years old, my grandfather died from disease. He was so kind and I loved him very much. I had a lot of memories with him. Not until he died I realized the importance of the days I spent with him. I think I had much more thing I had to do then.

If my parents should die, I couldn`t receive education anymore. Thinking about that we have no time to waste, we have to live without regret. We know the importance after we lose it.  (Rei)

I’d like to talk about what I thought by listening to her speech.

First, I think her idea was wonderful because she was able to make the neglected wall a nicer space for her neighborhood, and we can share our hopes only by using chalks. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t be able to come up with such an amazing idea. I’d like to have this nice wall in my neighborhood.

Second, I think her activity is very similar to Japanese season event, Tanabata Festival. In July, people write their own wishes and hopes on small pieces of paper, and then, they decorate bamboo trees with them. I think Tanabata Festival is as good as her blackboard activity because we can share our dreams in both of these. Finally, I agree with her idea that time and our relationships are very important to us. (Karin)