cause and effect

2 min readSep 11, 2025

DAY 210

The crisp autumn air is fully upon us. Early this morning, I made my monthly visit to Kainosawa Onsen.

While soaking leisurely alone in the open-air bath, I spotted a large snail on a nearby garden tree. It was a size not usually seen around my home, measuring about 10 centimeters from head to tail.

I approached it, gazed intently, and playfully blew on it. The snail, seemingly annoyed, took about 20 minutes to slowly make its way back to its home at the base of the tree.

As I relaxed, my mind began to ponder: “If I had just watched, would the snail have moved quickly?” “What if I hadn’t noticed the snail at all?” Both the snail and I might have walked different paths in the future.

This experience made me reflect on causality. Finding the snail was the cause that led to my next action, and blowing on it influenced the snail’s behavior. If I hadn’t found the snail or hadn’t blown on it, its behavior might have been different. In this way, causality shows how one event can influence the next in a chain. Considering how our actions and choices shape the future, I realize that many causal relationships are hidden in our daily lives.