Medically, 'moving' is a pretty simple process. The brain sends a signal to muscles to contract, the muscles contract, and the tendons connected to them pull on bones, causing joints to bend. On the surface, that's what we see as the 'moving act'.

But for a person to actually move, several steps are needed before that mechanical mechanism. These are, on an unconscious level, optimism and willpower, and on a conscious level, intention. (The distinction between unconscious and conscious here is whether or not it can be articulated. You can certainly answer "What was your intention in doing that?" after some thought, but being optimistic or not, or motivated or not, isn't something you process through thought; it's simply a state.)

For example, the reason we can perform the act of opening a door and going outside is because we first have the optimism that if we try to open the door, it (obviously) will open. This optimism sparks the willpower to try, which then leads to the intention to open the door, and ultimately results in the act of grasping the doorknob.

However, we don't flap our arms trying to fly. That's because we know it won't work (=pessimism). Since we know it won't work, we have no willpower, and thus no intention, and no action.

Depressed people are often pessimistic and cynical. But that's not what I want to talk about. The state of depression is actually a state of seeing reality too accurately. What I'm about to say might be shocking, but it's true.

Most people have dreams, and they vaguely believe those dreams will come true. But dreams rarely materialize exactly as envisioned. Instead, as you follow that journey, you gain something unexpected in unforeseen ways, and that becomes life's achievement. Even if "it wasn't what you originally intended" is true.

Pessimistic people think this way: if it doesn't go exactly as I want, then it's meaningless from the start. So, because they know so well that it won't work, they don't even try. Then there are no unexpected gifts. And life stagnates.

I'm not saying the pessimistic viewpoint is wrong. On the contrary, it's often too accurate. But it overlooks the possibility that the world might give us something in ways we didn't expect. That's the problem.

Many people only emphasize 'action'. Like, "Go exercise," or "Meet people." But what truly creates change is optimism, the root of that action. To put it strongly, pessimism is intelligence; optimism is a kind of foolishness. A foolishness that makes you just do something. So, pessimistic people actually need to be less smart.

Optimism is the act of creating the game board you want to play on

Optimism is often hindered by negative thoughts like "People will hate me." But these thoughts are ultimately just defense mechanisms stemming from a desire to avoid being hurt. So, you actually need to accept "People might dislike me" for optimism to build upon it.

The thought, "Am I worthy of living?" is similar. Dying people don't die because they're unworthy, and living people don't live because they're worthy. The world might not be affected at all if I die. I might truly be unworthy of living. But the important thing is to accept that the reason for living isn't 'because I'm worthy of living.' We were subjected to birth, and we are subjected to life.

So, is suicide choosing death? For a choice to be valid, you must be able to directly experience the outcome, but death cannot be experienced. At the moment of death, sensation, cognition, memory, and judgment all vanish. Ultimately, even though death appears to be a choice, it's an area that is practically unchoosable. Whether to live or not is something we unilaterally experience; it's not an area where we can choose.

Life is simply the process of creating the game board you want to play on. It's akin to meticulously putting together a chessboard piece by piece. You might wonder what meaning there is in the work itself, but once the chessboard is complete, that's when the real fun begins. The hope for that fun is optimism.

This website was the same. At first, it started with just putting up a line saying "Hello." It was pretty humble work. But by creating a writing editor, adding multilingual features, and organizing categories, I created my own playing field. And because there was optimism that this would become fun, that optimism ultimately led to the action of today.