no 56

Being present is the unique gift of being alive. This newsletter is an exploration of small ways to cultivate more presence.

Welcome to installment 56 of Afterimage.

When a recent experience stands out I leave it awhile, then revisit it: I replay the scene in my mind’s eye, and watch. I observe my body and how it responds to the scene in the present moment. I call this image and felt sense of a past event, the Afterimage.

After I have a good look at the Afterimage, I invite my mind to have a say. That’s the Afterthought.

Here's what I saw, heard, or sensed that’s stayed with me recently.

Let’s begin.

Alignment

My tax accountant was unexpectedly sprightly, a tallish Japanese woman who practiced aikido every morning before work.

When she told me, “My job is to look at your numbers and file your taxes. But what I hope to do is to take the stress out of it all so you can focus on what you do best. And love!” I was sold.

Working with her was like working with my osteopath. When my numbers aligned, like my bones after a session, things made a lot more sense and worked better. I could see and hear more clearly where I am, where I want to go, and what I want to do next.

Just as we were gaining momentum, she passed away suddenly, a month before taxes were due. She is missed in the business community.

:::

No accountant would take me on as a new client, this time of the year.

Out of options, I called the national tax hotline. I called friends and scoured community groups on social media for recommendations and potential introductions. With the the deadline of March 15 fast approaching, I went to the tax office filled with dread.

I deplore all administrative tasks. Especially ones that require visits to public offices.

For years, I’d heard the tax office here in Japan is fully staffed with kind people who are there to help. The words “taxes”, “help“, and “kindness” didn’t seem to belong in the same sentence. But without any other options, I went.

:::

I arrived at 9:30AM.

Japanese public offices are tidy, but often depressing. Small, cramped, overlit with flourescent lighting, they aren’t comfortable spaces. Most municipal buildings in Japan are successful in making visitors want to get the hell out. ASAP.

My number was called just before 10AM.

On this visit, I learned the rumors were true. I witnessed my tax dollars (or actually, yen) going the extra mile. They were being spent on free tax advice for the DIY taxpayers, and on something essential in a well-functioning society: kindness and understanding.

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Double Takes

When I arrived with my ticket to the second floor of the Tax Office, it looked exactly like what a public study hall for grownups would look like. The room was full of students (tax payers) working on problems (tax forms), with tutors (tax officers) there to guide and check their answers.

Foldout tables were joined to create a dozen or so rows of long tables, runing the length of the room. Taxpayers sat side-by-side, with plexiglass partitions reused from pandemic times, offering a semblance of privacy.

The tax officers sat in swivel chairs. Genius. They were sandwiched by taxpayers desperate to complete their taxes on time. The officers swiveled smoothly back and forth, instructing each person on their next step.

I had the first ticket for the 10AM time slot.

I took a seat, handed my ticket to the officer. I bowed and said hello, took out my tax form and documents, and opened my laptop. He smiled.

Tax Officer: “First things first: Add up all of your income. Write that here.”

The Tax Officer swiveled away to help the other person he was assigned to. After a few minutes, he swiveled back toward me. His eyes like a hawk’s, focused on my total. His eyes darted back and forth between my numbers and the exchange rate displayed on my laptop.

Tax Officer: “You know what? Use the lower exchange rate. Minimize your earnings. That’ll help you get your taxes a bit lower, even if a little. Okay? ““

Me:“Minimize my earnings?? What? “

Before I could confirm what I’d just heard, he swiveled away to help the other person. Who knew people worked and filed their taxes this way?

In a few dozen swivels and four hours later, my taxes were completed and filed. I was done.

:::

Leaving the “study hall”, I got on the elevator.

I noticed a piece of paper taped to the wall by the sliding doors. It looked like an announcement for a routine inspection, a standard and generic “apologies for any inconvenience in advance.”

On closer view, I understood it was something entirely different. There was nothing routine about this notice. It was another iteration of kindness in action.

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Feeling supported with kindness was something I never expected to feel at the tax office. Neither was feeling moved.

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Better than a Good Fix

I hadn’t equated the good of humanity with public services, especially after experiences with public services in the US and and administration offices in France.

My local tax office in Japan, a place that held a menacing image in my mind, challenged and changed my thoughts on what public services are, and how it can be carried out.

Taking public services literally and seriously is a lesson for us all: what can we do to serve the community and greater public, and how can we do it with kindness?

The etymology of tax, from Oxford Languages:

If the word tax does, in fact, come from a word that means to fix— as in fixing roads, systems, infrastructure— my recent experience with taxes made me reflect: how does the action of fixing shift and evolve, if we pair it with kindness?

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Could the math between kindness and control bring us to an answer that points to

With kindness and a little bit of care, the change we hope for becomes less about fixing something, but the beginning of a collaborative process for change to be created, supported, owned, and sustained.

Love and kindness go a long way. They belong not only in our private spheres, but in all of them.

Thanks for reading Afterimage.

What is an experience you’ve had where you felt a difference between fixing something and making change possible? What made it different for you?