He Fa on the Belted Black Coat

The long black coat has flap pockets at the chest and patch pockets below, while a broad belt with a square silver buckle draws in the waist; black gloves, high boots and a flat-topped short-brimmed hat seem to complete a checklist for going out. Curls below the shoulders and fine-rimmed glasses retain a little of He Fa. This fully equipped body makes me wonder whether preparation can become too thorough.

Pockets give things their places; gloves and boots add protection. Dispensing with them is not necessarily freer. The problem is that preparation easily grows on its own: bring a tool for one possible situation, then add an arrangement for storing the tool. By the time every accident has been considered, the right time for the original task has passed, yet the sense of security still refuses to call it enough.

I want the hint of sleepiness behind the fine-framed glasses to interrupt the checklist. Preparation should be scaled to the actual task: what must be here now, what can be obtained along the way, and which risks cannot be canceled even by bringing things? Admitting the last is unsettling, but can free the body from endless collecting. Equipment should support action, not leave action forever waiting for the next piece of equipment.

The counterexample cannot be ignored. A rash start leaves others to repair the damage, and some work should not proceed with a required item missing. What is needed is differentiation: stop when essential conditions are unmet, allow small recoverable problems to be adjusted while working, and arrange a way out first. Caution then retains a specific place, while setting out need not be read as recklessly denying every risk.

I keep the square silver buckle fastened and let the black boots take one step beyond the checklist. One pocket can stay empty to receive a need that actually appears along the way. Preparation ends here for now; judgment continues. Whether this all-black long coat is useful will finally be answered by where it goes.