Relax, don't do it!

A curious name for a blog post huh?

Perhaps it has a meaning and then again perhaps it comes simply from the radio station that I was listening to earlier that plays hits from the past. Funnily enough I did hear one song from way back that I liked so much that I've embedded it here because not only is it a cool, if somewhat dated song but I find it somehow relevant and strangely alluring!

Song & Player (Japan - I second that emotion >> removed
For the last month I think my emotions have been undergoing some deep conflict and also running so high and the energy that I've unconsciously used in maintaining those peaks really have exhausted me. I guess I've had a good reason for this to happen. So today we have spent two wonderfully relaxing hours at the hot springs spa rejuvenating ourselves.
A lot of people seem to look down on emotions and by this remark I must admit that I do believe that it is usually males that misunderstand the need for emotions and quite often they say to a girl "You're too emotional" as if it were a disparaging remark.
That remark must have set the cat amongst the pigeons and perhaps it will generate a lot of emotion within my male readers! Perhaps emotional enough to comment on that with denials!

In a way that remark could be thought of as true because perhaps the involved intensity is the key but how can we measure such emotional intensity? In a given situation different people may all have the same emotion but experience it with different levels and  intensities. Then again some will experience totally different emotions to the same situation. What some would fret over others may find simply curious and what would infuriate some may simply amuse others.
In returning to the point of male and female understanding and feeling of emotions, I think that since we people do tend to reflect the emotional states that we see and feel in others and also that I think that women, because of biological and perhaps social factors, are more aware of these mental states than are males, we are said to be 'more' emotional. I would certainly say that we are more empathic and aware of others feelings. Some jobs such as certain scientific areas and the medical vocations require its people to disengage from their natural emotions. Basically our emotions can sustain our preference and prejudice over periods of time during which it is not possible to act on that proclivity and most societies do tend to restrict the actions of women more than those of men.
These reasons do not imply that being more emotional is a bad thing or a good thing. There are some instances that need a greater attentiveness to the mental states of others and it is considered as considerate or useful. There are other times in which such attentiveness could be considered as intrusive or distracting. There are some situations where delaying an action gives us time to think and perhaps to act more effectively, and other situations in where we could loses the chance to act at all should we move impulsively on our emotions.
So much then for our 'gut feelings!'
The experiences of life as we grow should or hopefully bring us the knowledge of when to use our instinctive emotional ability and when to use cold rationalizations.


If we say that happiness is one of the prerequisites of a fulfilling life and I think that we all can say that happiness is an emotion then thinking that maybe we would all we better had we no emotions at all then could be a good thing, perhaps in silence and alone I would say to you "Live long and prosper!" Anyone who suffered a broken heart all know the wish of having no emotions at all and do away with the pain in one snap of the fingers and from there we sometimes vow to armor-plate our hearts in similar future situations. Alternately everyone who ever experienced falling in love will be very grateful indeed for the emotions we have. Oh such joy!
Relaxation and finding time for those little things in life is very important.

One of my favorite hot spring spas is down in Atami, a town I visited last February. Here in Tokyo there are several spas or bath houses with some of the nicer ones being in the large hotels but you can wait a long time for an appointment in there because obviously the hotel patrons will have first choice preference. My favorite place here in the city here is the 'Kannon Onsen' over in Asakusa. Once inside the silence makes you believe that the city is left behind and the mineral scent fills the air filling you with fresh promise. The water used by this spa is fed from a spring underneath and so the mineral content is natural and not like some bath-houses which artificially add minerals to their normal water supply. I'm not demeaning those normal water bath-houses. It's just that I know which type I prefer.
Soaking in this volcanic water maintained at 42 degrees Celsius really starts to rejuvenate you and it reinvigorates you.. Hitomi and I took a secluded family room that contained two large tubs and soaked our cares away. Outside the would could have been undergoing rehearsals for the '2012' movie (which I hope to go see) but here we had the carefree relaxing music of bird song while breathing in a pine fragrant steamy air as the bath did its job and relaxed every part of me. Afterwards we had a seaweed and ginger foot-bath, a salubrious herbal oil body massage which removed the bumps and twists in my muscles. Hitomi and I both agree that the therapists there are very good since they use more than just their hands to massage us. The hot stone treatment was very good too delivering heat and pressure into our very cores. Finally we had a head massage with essential oils getting deep into our shoulders, neck, scalp and face.

Afterwards I felt relaxed and human again, I felt my energy return and channel throughout my body once more and I felt hungry!
We shared an evening over a bowl of miso noodle stew which is also quite invigorating as winter approaches.

Hitomi is away in Okinawa for a week next month with her job and Dad is coming here for a few days which will be wonderful. My contract with work officially ends at the end of the month but of course they don't expect me in anymore and dear Riko is patiently waiting until November before she claims my desk as her own. I'll go collect my things sometime at the end of the week.

Edit: Last night Hitomi asked me to remove my earlier bath image and replace it with a cartoon representation.
Edit: I like to keep my girl happy. It has been replaced!