Blog Post 10: Sei Shonagon's Observations in the Pillow Book

Sei Shonagon's the Pillow Book provides a glimpse into the Japanese court life during the Heian era in the eleventh century. Her writings is like an archaic (or old-fashioned) blog she writes, describing the everyday activities she observes in the Heian court during her life on earth in ancient Japan. Here are a few items on her list that I found interesting.

17. Things That Arouse a Fond Memory of the Past

This caught my attention since Shonagon mentions how looking through the old papers brings back a good memory of the past on a rainy day. Looking through old objects like short poems does bring back pleasing memories of the first painting you draw and the feelings one person felt when writing a poem for the first time.

25. Infuriating things

This topic is relatable to some people if a person they dislike shows up unannounced. As Shonagon mentions, she hates it when someone is calling for that individual in which he or she prefers not to see that day and pretend to be asleep to avoid meeting that person they hate. Another thing that annoys her is the dog's barking when a lover arrives to see their love of his life. These can be annoying during the night when a dog starts barking while you are asleep.

29. Elegant Things

Shonagon describes the objects she admires including the wisteria blossoms and shaved ice with liana syrup. Those are the things to admire in the modern world to appreciate nature and enjoy the food we eat everyday to feel satisfied.

49. Cats

Not everyone is a cat lover, myself included. While Shonagon believes that all cats should be black except for their bellies, I believe that they should have different colors because having other colors besides black is creative and something to appreciate. I used to like cats but now I don't like them that much since they are grumpy little pests (I prefer dogs).

116. Deeply Irritating Things

When a person says mean things about a specific individual behind their back, that is rude. I agree with Shonagon about this part because of how rude people can be when they complain about something that irritates him/her or when someone gossips about a lot of negative things about the person they despise without getting to know them. Also, leaving the room without closing the panel behind them is another thing I can relate to. It is irritating when someone leaves the room without shutting the door behind them.

These are some parts of the list that caught my interest to understand the observations Sei Shonagon wrote to have a better understanding what things she liked and what conditions annoyed her. After reading her list, this is a list on what topics I like and dislike:

1. Drawing and generating new ideas for a story

Drawing sketches of creative characters helps me feel relaxed and motivated to write a good story on these characters. As long as I do not have an art or writer's block on that day, these hobbies are the only activities that I enjoy everyday to develop my drawing skills and become a better artist.

2. Politics

This is a controversial topic to explain due to the tensions we have here in the U.S. A couple of things I dislike when it comes to talking about these controversial issues is people arguing and yelling at each other over a disagreement. What I dislike about this is all of the hatred everyone has and it pains me to see all this hate and fighting between two parties. It's like one group prefers to eat pizza with pineapple while the other would rather eat pizza without the tiny yellow fruit. It is best for everyone to avoid this conversation to prevent any conflicts that arise when talking about these issues with family and friends.

4. Leaving the door open

Leaving the door open is one of the things that annoy me. It is more irritating to leave the front door of the house open for a long time for the tiny crickets and cockroaches to come lurking in like they were invited to a birthday party.

3. Nature

The environment in Phoenix is enjoyable to explore the places in the state. Locations including downtown Phoenix and Tempe Town Lake are one of the places I enjoy visiting to appreciate the scenery I gaze at to feel relaxed.

Sources:

http://guerrillasemiotics.com/2013/05/sei-shonagons-lists/