Word 100
Inside the inner corridor surrounding the main sanctuary of Kasuga Taisha, a single wisteria trellis stands.
Known as the "Sand-Brushing Wisteria," this vine is said to be over 700 years old. Every year in early May, its flower clusters stretch to well over a meter in length, hanging so low they brush against the sand below.
The other wisteria planted nearby grow under the very same trellis, bathed in the very same sunlight. And yet this one vine alone has kept reaching further and hanging lower than any of the others, further and further toward the ground.
People often say, "You mustn't do what everyone else is doing."
In other words, when the crowd turns to the left, it also takes courage to turn to the right.
But that is never as easy as it sounds.
Have a dialogue with your inner self, keep a delicate distance from those around you, and try doing something different.
Even today, the Sand-Brushing Wisteria keeps hanging further than any other. Answering to no one, it may simply be reaching, quietly and steadily, toward the length it alone was meant to grow.