"My Album." Looking back on six months of note, while passing the baton.

I received a baton from a respected noter, Kuromameshiba-san! The mission is to list "10 good things about myself" in an article. Several noters have already carried out this mission and passed the baton along.

It all started when Yuni-san listed "10 good things about herself" in her own article, and Maru-san followed suit after reading that article. From there, it became a relay... a baton that was born spontaneously. It is a warm baton that naturally emerged from the connections between noters, which is truly characteristic of note. (I have introduced everyone's articles at the end of this post. Please do visit the articles that catch your interest!)

Now, when I imagined receiving the baton from Kuromameshiba-san and writing down 10 good things about myself, I thought, "I want to construct 'my good points' using the words of the noters!"
That felt like the most appropriate way to express who I am right now.

My own words and the words of others. Both are very important, but I think that what is actually "observing" the person that is "me" properly is, in fact, the "words of others."

For example, I am currently facing my computer in the living room of my house, but what is reflected in my eyes are the computer, the furniture in the house, the kumquat tree outside the window, and the small birds that have come there... and so on. I can see my own hands typing on the keyboard well, but if you ask me if I can see the overall image of "me," that is not the case.

However, if a family member comes down from their room to the living room, I can view their entire body. Sitting on the sofa drinking coffee, or going out into the garden to busily set up a portable solar panel. I can easily observe the overall picture of what my family is doing there and how they are moving.

The other day, something like this happened. A classmate from junior high school sent me a nostalgic photo from back then via LINE. It showed about six friends smiling... but wait, is that me in the middle? I really couldn't be sure. I knew the faces of all the classmates around me, so by process of elimination, it had to be me. But did I really have a face like that?
Of course, I haven't forgotten my own face from when I was a child, but that photo seemed quite different from the face I know as my own.
Just to be sure, I asked my friend, "Is that me in the middle?" and they replied, "Eh, obviously, right?"
It doesn't seem like my face was captured looking any different than usual.
"I see, I've never seen myself, so I didn't really understand," I muttered with honest feelings, and my friend replied with a message full of question marks.
When I added, "I've seen myself in mirrors and photos, but I've never truly seen myself," my friend seemed to agree, saying, "That's true, you haven't, have you."

That's right. The me laughing surrounded by friends, the me taking classes, the me running on the school grounds... the one who properly observes and remembers the me from junior high school is actually not me myself, but the many friends who lived alongside me.
The "me" of that time that I recall is less about myself and more a memory of "what I was looking at" and "what I was feeling and thinking" back then.

Of course, that is also "me."
In a way, it is my inner self.
In terms of my note life, it is the "perspective inside" my articles.
What should I write? How should I write it?
While I can look at that plenty from my own side, I cannot view those articles "from the outside."

My perspective is always inside me.
That is a very important thing.
Otherwise, there would be no point in "me" writing articles, would there?

However, I believe that the ones who can properly "observe" such articles of mine are not me, but all of you noters who read them.
And I believe that you are also the ones who remember them.

Of course, I also remember my own articles.
What I was feeling at that time, what kind of mood I was in when I wrote them.
That is something only I know, and something important that only I can remember.
But what kind of "form" the article had at that time, how it "looked," and how it "conveyed"... I can only imagine. I cannot remember it clearly. Just like how I couldn't be sure it was me when looking at the photo from junior high.

Therefore, the words of everyone who "observed" my articles and wrote comments or introduction articles are "my records."
It is me as a noter, Crystal-ru's album, isn't it!

Because I have such strong feelings about this, I would like to extract the 10 "good points" from my "album." These are the words of the noters who have introduced my articles in the past.
As for the purpose of the baton, I think it is to list 10 good points in one's own words, but since I have already absorbed the words bestowed upon me by everyone... please, let me make these a part of my own words as well.

Actually, it will soon be half a year since I started note.
I have never written a reflection article for note before, but by making a part of the articles where I have been introduced my "album," I would like to make this a reflection and record of my six months on note.

The "me observed from the outside" by all the noters is something that is too much for me when I read it myself, and it is actually presumptuous of me to introduce it—but that, including everything, is "my album."
If I can use this as a guide for my future steps, I would be truly happy.

*10 good things about me* ~Borrowing the words of the noters~

1. Crystal-ru writes "prose like a transparent crystal, the likes of which I have never encountered before" (Hiiro-san).

1. Crystal-ru is a noter who "respects and acknowledges all living things" (Nausicaa of the Wind's Song-san).

② Crystalulu is a "noter who senses something like the writer's aura from their writing and puts it into words to tell them" (Rikejo Mamaさん).

② Crystalulu is a noter who is "natural, or rather, transcends naturalness" (Yoheiさん).

③ Crystalulu is a noter who "enters into a person's inner world before they know it through her gentle tone and choice of expressions, making the space vibrant" (Konishi Kinokoさん).

③ Crystalulu writes "articles with a unique worldview that don't overlap with anyone else's" (Yasuさん).

④ Crystalulu is a "writer as beautiful as water" (Dr. Akebonoさん).

④ Crystalulu's writing is "overflowing with a miraculous resonance that cleanses even a slightly tired heart and makes it feel energetic again" (Nene Horiiさん).

⑤ Crystalulu is a noter who converts "attachments and lingering feelings into valuable energy" (Kaoraさん).

⑤ Crystalulu's articles "catch the heart" and sometimes "reach out a hand" to help (Sumireさん).

⑥ Crystalulu is a noter who "puts into words what I couldn't express myself" (Misabon).

⑥ Crystalulu is a noter who "feels the moment when words descend through 'waiting,' and tries to visualize those words" (GAMIさん).

⑦ Crystalulu is a noter who values "inaudible sounds" (Tayoroyoro Libraryさん).

⑦ Crystalulu's "special skill is loving herself from corner to corner" (karinさん).

⑧ Around Crystal-ru, "wonderful people naturally gather" (Nayuta).

⑧ Crystal-ru's articles are "perfect for when you want to feel energized" (Akizukiyo Makura).

⑨ Crystal-ru is a presence that "leaves numerous compassionate comments and brings richness to our collaborative magazine" (Ryoyan).

⑨ Crystal-ru is a noter from whom I feel "silent affection" (Tomohiko Nakao).

⑩ Crystal-ru is a noter who "naturally makes me think, 'I, too, am a part of the universe.'" (Niji).

⑩ Crystal-ru's writing is "always connected to the feeling of 'being fulfilled'" (Yasushi Edase).

When I line them up, it's so wonderful, it's surprising...

Now, for a little bonus at the end.
As a strength I've long prided myself on, I have a side that is "unconventional."
This time, I was asked for 10 good points... but I secretly broke that mold.
How I broke it... it would be my greatest joy if you could find it and smile.

And now, it's time to pass the baton to the next person.
Over these past six months, you have nurtured me with so many wonderful words...Edase-san.
If it wouldn't be a bother, would you accept the baton?

Here are the articles from everyone who has passed the baton along ↓↓↓

I have listed the articles I could confirm at the time of posting, but if I have missed any, please let me know. Also, if there is anyone who plans to write one in the future and would like to be included, please let me know and I will add your article.

This article received a total of three Congratulatory Boards over several weeks.
To everyone who cooperated with this article and everyone who gave it a 'like,' thank you so much!