An ode to a decade in Japan
Act I : SOMEONE MAY MOVE
Today, September 13th, 2023, marks my tenth year in Japan. To honor and process a decade of life here, I began writing a series about it. Today’s piece takes the shape of a play, adaptable to stage or screen.
SOMONE MAY MOVE is a reimagined conversation based on a real one that took place just before graduation in May of 2013. Months later, in the fall, I would move to Sendai. Though some aspects of this conversation have been altered, the themes, events, and emotional landscapes remain true to their original form.
Act I, Scene I
SOMEONE MAY MOVE
Jes asks her film professor if she is making the right or wrong choice. They meet in the Campus Center at Smith College, and sit at a small table for two. The film professor is pregnant, and is also thinking about things that are about to change. JES Am I doing the wrong thing? PROFESSOR What is the wrong thing? JES Moving to the other side of the world. A job that I don’t necessarily want. A place I don’t know. Missing opportunities…somewhere…where I could become a better…something. PROFESSOR No. I don’t see how anything could be the wrong thing. JES It’s temporary, and I would be having experiences I wouldn’t have here, if I stayed. PROFESSOR If you went anywhere, or even if you didn’t, you would be having experiences. JES Yes. PROFESSOR As filmmakers, we make things from material. JES Yes. PROFESSOR When you're there, and when you return, you will have stories. That’s what we do. In one way or another, we are always telling stories. Jes sighs, relieved. She nods in agreement, and then continues. JES I am afraid of being something I’m not. And losing something I love. Like, what if by going to Japan, becoming a teacher, I will be playing at something else. I don’t want to pretend. PROFESSOR Then don’t pretend. JES I believe there is more than one way to be. PROFESSOR There is. JES But it feels like most people believe in one thing. Like God, or Retirement. PROFESSOR They may, but even God and Retirement experience change, love, and loss. JES So, everything changes shape. PROFESSOR Everything changes shape. JES Even God. PROFESSOR Especially God. The Professor looks down at her round belly, and raises her eyebrows. Student and professor laugh.
Love this, so fun! Can't wait to read Scene Two.
I love this new/old perspective. Sometimes it can be so helpful (for ourselves and for others) to go back to the start and see how it has all played out. You had such enormous courage to go and you have learned so much. I hope you see your enormous strengths in both!!