Staying Loyal to Your Own Path
What resonates with me most about Miyamoto Musashi
is not merely his solitude.
It is this:
He once seriously considered becoming part of the world.
As a young man, Musashi also desired:
- recognition,
- honor,
- status,
- achievement,
- and the possibility of serving a lord.
He was not born detached from society.
He, too, once wondered:
Should I enter the system
and become someone recognized by the world?
But in the end,
he remained loyal to his inner voice.
He realized:
Walking alone was perhaps the path most true to himself.
And in many ways,
my own journey has been similar.
When I graduated around the age of twenty-nine or thirty,
I also thought about:
- joining large corporations,
- gaining titles,
- earning recognition,
- becoming someone respected by society.
At that time,
I believed that might be what success meant.
But gradually,
I came to realize something:
Even if I was capable of succeeding within those systems,
it still might not be the life I truly wanted to live.
I realized that what I truly longed for
was not to be defined by the world,
but rather:
the freedom to walk my own path.
So eventually,
I chose solitude.
Not because I hated the world.
Not because I could not fit into the system.
But because:
my soul was more suited to freedom.
Looking back,
what moves me most
is not the image of a “natural-born ronin.”
It is this:
A person who struggled,
questioned,
searched,
and explored —
yet in the end,
still chose to remain loyal to himself.
I believe
that is where my deepest resonance with Musashi comes from.
忠於自己的路
我覺得我之所以會與宮本武藏產生那麼深的共鳴，
並不是因為「孤獨」本身。
而是因為：
我們都曾經認真思考過，
要不要加入世界。
年輕的武藏，
其實也曾經渴望：
- 出人頭地
- 建功立業
- 侍奉主君
- 得到榮耀與名聲
他不是一開始就超然於世。
他也曾經思考過：
是否應該加入某個體制，
成為世界所認可的人。
但最後，
他還是忠於自己的內心。
他發現：
獨行，
或許才是真正適合自己的道路。
而我年輕的時候，
其實也是如此。
二十九、三十歲剛畢業時，
我也曾經想過：
- 進入大公司
- 得到 title
- 得到 honor
- 被世界認可
那時候的我，
也以為那或許就是成功。
但後來我漸漸發現：
即使我有能力走進那樣的體制，
那也未必是我真正想活的人生。
我開始發現：
自己真正渴望的，
不是被定義。
而是：
自由地走自己的路。
所以後來，
我選擇了獨行。
這並不是因為我討厭世界。
也不是因為我無法融入體制。
而是因為：
我的靈魂更適合自由。
回頭看，
真正動人的，
從來不是「天生的浪人」。
而是：
一個人曾經掙扎過、
思考過、
探索過，
最後仍然選擇忠於自己。
我想，
這也是我與武藏最深的共鳴。
