We should create a society in which each person can have multiple identities and be included in various spheres of life. Such a society might help slow down the dominance of meritocracy and contribute to greater social stability.

However, in an individualized society, it is also difficult to build relationships with diverse people outside the workplace.
This is both a personal challenge for me and, I believe, a social issue, since there must be many people like me.

Those who receive high recognition in their work may be satisfied with that. But for someone like me, who does not, I think it is difficult to maintain self-esteem unless I cultivate things outside of work that I truly value and develop multiple identities.

Unless we make a conscious effort, there is a danger that the time we spend working—and the evaluation we receive there—will become disproportionately large in our minds, leading us to become dependent on it.

Cherishing the sense that something is beautiful means cherishing oneself, and it is a way of living one’s own life.

I think it is important to distance ourselves from a masculine and dominant perspective that judges everything in terms of efficiency, and instead to value the feeling of finding something beautiful.