Now I Understand Why Haruki Murakami Always Runs

Walking home at night reminds me of the reason why I should keep writing.

So I went to church tonight and walked home. I didn't plan to, but I think I found the reason to keep on writing. I think I saw what Haruki Murakami saw.

For a little context, in Catholicism, the first Friday of every month is a special Friday for us. 

There are special devotions to the Holy Sacraments. I came to a new church. I was shocked because the mass wasn't like the mass I used to attend. It's short, quick, without sermon. 

After I looked around the church. I just planned to see several places near the church, but then my feet walked far. Until I arrived home. Yes, I walked for an hour from church to my room.

The mass ended around 7.30 pm. It's dark and crowded. People tried to get home so the roads were so clogged. Fortunately, the rain stopped after the mass finished. I didn't use my umbrella anymore, but the sky was still gloomy. And I just kept walking until 8.30 pm.

I didn't wear any jacket. I bought a black tote bag and plugged earphones into both of my ears, listened to music I love along the walk. I carefully looked around. 

And I found these: A driver who let me passed on zebra cross with his hand gesture that I could see from behind his window, a grey cat with big eyes that stared hard at me, a homeless who drank black coffee and gorengan, a child played firework with her mom with a huge sack in her hand, a man with white shirt who turned away after staring at me in surprise, the kids who ran in the alley with these beautiful tiny yellow lights, a man who ate soto alone with a couple who sat near him, people who waited for the bus at the bus stop, and many more.

And I couldn't stop looking around. I couldn't stop staring at the traffic, trying to find any smiles or cries on people's faces and trying to make any scenarios that probably happened to them. I couldn't stop seeing the lights at the bus stops and the alleys that I passed through. I couldn't stop seeing everything.

The music in my ears and the soaking wet road made this night walk feel special. I didn't plan to walk home on my own. I planned to go back home by Transjakarta. But I guess, this was what spirit led me. He wanted me to walk again, notice everything, like how I used to.

And this night walk reminds me of Haruki Murakami who consistently takes care of his health and his work by running. And I understand now, why creative workers or at least a writer needs to have a routine. A regular exercise. Because it is a way to keep sane.

A healthy body produces healthy thoughts, healthy ideas. And not only that, running or walking in this case, helps writers to use their eyes and heart, to see and feel things. To have imaginations of what they see while walking, and that's the idea that keeps a writer writing. And I realized, since I was in Jakarta, I didn't do it anymore.

I didn't take a walk to see things around me anymore. I usually walk in a hurry because people here are walking from their house to their workplace or to the aesthetic-viral spots. They didn't wander. They didn't romanticize. So everyone seems to walk in a rush.

I didn't take pictures anymore. I even didn't skygazing and wrote cheesy poems about it. 

Those are simple things that always remind me to feel I am so small and this huge universe has so many secrets. This world has so many untold stories and imaginations. The 3-10 seconds skygazing I used to do was an exercise to remind me that I always have a story and imagination that is worth sharing. But I didn't do it anymore and I did tonight. With a gloomy sky, soaking wet road, and James Arthur playlist. I did it.

I regain the reason why I should keep writing.

Written by, Belen Amanda