Humans are creatures of fantasy. Everyday things become seeds planted in one’s heart, turning into complex existences. This is where magic is born. This is where hope is born. But perhaps this is also where despair is born as well.

In human relationships perhaps fantasy plays an even more central role. The lives of strangers, the time our acquaintances spend apart from us, even the mind of a lover, in many cases rather than truly understanding these things, we turn to imagination. The admiration and longing we feel towards others: the more we lack a detailed picture, the more it is filled in by fantasy. The people we think we know and the people that truly exist – we truly do not know to what extent these overlap.

In the virtual world this phenomenon is even stronger. The three-dimensional existence of others is reduced to the light emitted from a screen, and like a single frame from a film, their depth is lost. In this world, one sees only one’s own details and flaws; the other is entirely painted over by fantasy. In such an environment, how can one understand oneself? How can one understand the world? Fantasy is powerful, but it blurs the details. We are becoming farsighted.

How can we take back our sight? Stop the endless intake of information. Return to stillness. Then perhaps the details painted over by fantasy will come back into view.

Umé Records presents the album “Magic Spell” by Tokyo, Japan’s Sachi Kobayashi.