The night I walked while listening to "Jewel Box," I returned to my own story.

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening.
This is R-sensei.

This time, I would like to talk to you, my readers, about something important.

First, an apology...

In my last two posts, I wrote articles titled "The Lunch Meeting Where I Decided to 'Stop Hiding'."

⭐️Click here for Part 1

⭐️Click here for Part 2

It was about how I used "Sensory Translation" to draw out the stories two people I met for the first time had been unable to tell anyone else.

And about my decision to "stop hiding the power of Sensory Translation."

After reading those articles, I'm sure those of you who have been reading my note for a long time must have thought something like this:

"Is R-sensei going to start a business that puts 'Sensory Translation' at the forefront?"

"But, R-sensei's 'righteous indignation' was supposed to be 'walking alongside people so they can tell their own life stories'...is she going to be okay?"

I'm sure you were watching over me with bated breath.

And that concern was correct.

I had, for a moment, lost sight of my important 'righteous indignation'...

1. Me after the lunch meeting

After that lunch meeting, I was excited.
The mental images I saw were just so accurate...

"I can use Sensory Translation to solve people's problems!"

"If I expand this as a business rather than just an inside thing, I can save so many more people!"

My enthusiasm grew, and I started thinking about service details again.

What should I name the service?
How should I recruit monitors?
How should I set the pricing?

I was consulting with Claude and ChatGPT about such things, scouring books on freelancing, and trying to rethink everything from scratch.

But, somewhere in my heart, the feeling that "this might not be right after all" wouldn't go away... My heart and my actions were not in alignment.

2. An unsettling feeling I couldn't overlook

It's a bit hard to put into words, but... I am a "natural-born sensory translator," aren't I?
a "natural-born sensory translator"?

I was someone who could perform "sensory translation" ever since I became aware of the world.
When I was a child, I lived using it naturally.

But...
When I told my friends about it, they called me a "pathological liar," so I stopped talking about those kinds of imaginative things.

But...
Even though I intended to seal it away, I realized that it was actually still active during my student days, my time as a teacher, and even after I took a leave of absence.

I have been using "sensory translation" every now and then to handle the "roles" and "jobs" in front of me. For 35 years, the whole time.

Somehow, that has been nagging at the back of my mind for a long time.

"Sensory translation" is my "talent," my "characteristic," and an "essence that others cannot replicate," but when asked if it was at the center of my life, I wonder if that's really the case.

Of course, the response from those who have witnessed the "scene of sensory translation" is amazing, with people saying things like "That's incredible," "You should turn that into a business," or "You should use that to guide many people."

But for me, the person in question, the fact that "when I eat, drink, see, or meet someone (something), an image appears in my mind" is, to the average person, the same as "having better eyesight than others," "being taller than others," "being a little fast on your feet," or "having a good memory."

It's that kind of, I don't know... "minor strength", and I can't help but feel a sense of discomfort about linking it directly to a business.

After all, just because someone is "taller than others" doesn't mean everyone becomes a volleyball player.

After all, just because someone is "a little fast on their feet" doesn't mean everyone does track and field.

After all, just because someone has a "good memory" doesn't mean everyone enters flash mental arithmetic competitions.

The same goes for Nao Kodaira, whom I was able to meet during my solo trip to Matsumoto. She is better at speed skating than anyone else, but now she is working hard as a coffee shop owner.

⭐️ Click here for the article about meeting Nao Kodaira

How you use your inherent abilities ultimately comes down to how you use them for your own "happiness" and the "happiness of those around you."

I had lost sight of the most important part...

3. The fear of being too direct

As I further unraveled this "sense of discomfort," I realized that using my ability to "see the image of the person in front of me and tell them about it" felt a bit simplistic, or perhaps too direct—it felt scary.

In fact, I cannot lie about the "images I see."

It is as uncomfortable and stressful for me as it would be for an average person to look at a "bright red apple" in front of them and say, "There is a bright yellow banana."

But if I were to turn this into a business, there would surely come a time when I would see "images the client didn't want me to see."

Or, there might come a time in the future when I myself see "unpleasant (scary) images that I don't want to speak aloud."

Before I made this a business, for 35 years, whenever I saw such things, I tried to forget them. I pretended they didn't exist.
...Or rather, I hadn't thought that deeply about the images I saw, nor had I kept records, so I naturally forgot them.

But if I were to make this a daily job, I would no longer be able to avoid it..

This was the "true nature of the discomfort" that kept me from moving forward.

4. I want to express my gratitude

Thinking about such things made me tired, so I decided to take a day off from updating my note and do something else.

Recently, I have been actively participating in SHElikes online events, and my connections on X have been growing.

Thankfully, the number of people telling me they are "rooting for me" has increased significantly over the past month.

Of course, I know there are many people supporting me on note as well.

Whenever I post an article, there are dozens of people who always immediately press the "Like❤️" button. I am truly happy 🎵

Among them, there are even people who have been pressing "Like❤️" continuously for over 5 months since my first article on June 26th.

Furthermore, the other day, SHElikes President Eri actually pressed "Like❤️" on the article I wrote about SHE! I was truly surprised and happy!!! And many SHEmates too!!! Thank you all!!!

⭐️ Click here for the article that President Eri liked❤️

So, I thought about whether there was some way I could express my gratitude to these people.

...Alright, I'll make a "comeback" (lol)

5. R-sensei, I'm making a comeback!

A comeback... in other words, resuming my artist activities (sorry for the K-pop fan perspective💦).

For me, I really felt that creating music and delivering it to everyone would be a way to express my gratitude. In fact, I have had the experience of gifting a "theme song" to my former coach, Laura, which she was very happy about.

So, this time, I actually made three albums in one day (lol)

One is my best-of album.
I carefully selected 15 songs that I really want everyone to hear, refined the track order many times, and compiled them into one.

The remaining two are my first instrumental music albums.
I divided them into "AM" and "PM" so that they are easy for everyone to listen to while working or commuting.

I create them by combining songs that were sleeping in my composition app and songs I had released individually on YouTube.

I spent about two hours wrestling with the songs I had on hand and the album structure...

When I was mostly done, I thought, "Since I'm at it, I want to include a new song too." I need a song that I create now, not one I made in the past.

I struggled with the subject matter, but I decided to pick up the story of how the image of a "jewelry box" came to me the other night when I used a makeup remover sheet.

⭐️ Click here for the story of how the image of a "jewelry box" came to me from a makeup remover sheet

I was able to write the lyrics in about 5 minutes.

"Jewelry Box" Lyrics

[Verse]
An old wooden box in the back of the closet
You opened the lid so easily
Jewelry thrown in a mess
Sparkling
chokers, rings, bracelets

[Pre-Chorus]
Who are you?
Where are you now?
I can see you
But I cannot hear you

[Pre-Chorus]
Whose box is it?
What about that crystal?
Even though I cannot hear
I cannot take my eyes off it

[Chorus]
A Monday night when a makeup remover sheet
becomes a jewelry box
The world I put into words
still remains
I cannot stop being me
As long as I live as myself

[Pre-Chorus]
By chance you found it
By chance I found you
To feel
To think
To believe

[Bridge]
Now that I've come this far
I will
not deceive myself anymore

[Chorus]
Makeup remover wipes
become a jewel box on a Monday night
The world of putting things into words
is still waiting
As long as there is someone who supports
this one and only me
The world of putting things into words
will be waiting
tomorrow too

.....

So, the song was finished, and

on my way home today, I went out for a bit.

When I listened to it while being blown by the night breeze,

I somehow started to cry...

6. Realizations from the lyrics

Staring at the lyric data typed onto the app screen, I realized something.

I cannot stop being me
as long as I live as myself

This is everything.

I was born with the ability of 'sensory translation.'
That cannot be changed.
But how I use it is something I decide.

Now that I've come this far,
I will
no longer deceive myself

I will no longer deceive myself.

I will be honest with my feelings.
No matter what anyone says, I am me, and I cannot lie to myself.

As long as there is someone who supports
this one and only me
The world of putting things into words
will be waiting
tomorrow too

This is my answer.

What I truly want to do is not 'sell sensory translation itself.'
It's to save the 'world of putting things into words' that I've been waiting for!

7. My righteous indignation

Walking down the night road, wiping the tears trickling down with my sleeve, I remembered my 'righteous indignation' once more.

My righteous indignation:
'I wish people in the world could be confident in the stories of their own lives and freely choose how to express and tell them. Everyone has wonderful ideas, personalities, and life episodes, and it is a waste for them to die having only been the reader (viewer) of their own story.'

Even now, this feeling has not changed.

I can perform sensory translation.
I can meet someone for the first time, see an image on the spot, and convey it.
I can even add a witty remark, like I did the other day.

But even if I do that, will that person be able to tell "their own story" "with their own power"?

I realized that what I am doing is no different from the "Coconala sellers who earn money by writing book reports for others," which I used to look down on.

It is meaningless if I tell the story on their behalf.

Moreover, I can only perform sensory translation "once."
Just that one time when we first meet.
That is the only chance to see an "accurate visual image."

So, can I become the "companion" I want to be?

Someone who runs alongside you.
Someone who gives you hints when you want to tie your shoelaces.

That is the kind of person I want to be.

8. My Mission

When I recall my righteous indignation, my mission naturally resurfaces.

What I want to achieve even after quitting the teaching job I held for 13 years:
"To accompany everyone living on this planet so that they can tell their own life stories with their own power. To that end, I will live as a 'Life Storytelling Companion.'"

This is it.

The talent for "sensory translation" is something that should be utilized to achieve this mission, not something to be put at the forefront.

That is what I realized.

9. I want to have a "strategy meeting"!

I return home, and without even taking off my coat, I open my MacBook.

I open the note screen and type in the lyrics to "Jewel Box."
I copy and paste the words "righteous indignation" and "mission" from my past note articles.

As I move the mouse and type on the keyboard, a thought occurs to me.

What I want to do is not coaching, counseling, teaching, or lecturing.

Those might "exist as elements," but I want to provide a service that cannot be defined as such. In other words, I want to have a "strategy meeting"!

I realized that I want to have strategy meetings with people who are:

"People who haven't realized the value of their own life story"

"People who realize the value but don't know how to turn it into a story"

"People who know how to do it but lack the essential power of verbalization"

such people.

What a "strategy meeting" is: with such people
・An equal relationship
・Thinking together
・Developing strategies together
・Connecting to concrete actions

This is what I really wanted to do.

10. To my readers

Actually, I met my good friend Tonton-sensei today for the first time in a week, and they said something like this...

"Are you okay, R-sensei? I was watching over you feeling a bit nervous, wondering if you had lost sight of your righteous indignation (laughs)."

I suppose that's what anyone who checks my note daily would think (laughs).

But I have returned. To the place where I truly belong.

I imagine there are some among my readers who were watching over me feeling nervous as well.

Even so, thank you so much for watching over me so warmly until now.

I temporarily strayed from my path.
But I have returned.

"To walk alongside everyone living on this planet so that they can tell their own life stories with their own power."

For that purpose, I am starting the "Life Storytelling Strategy Meeting."

"Sensory translation" is the tool for that.
But it is not the main character.

With this direction, I am starting to move in earnest.
Dear readers, I look forward to your continued support!!

And they lived happily ever after.

Once again, thank you so much for all the many likes❤️ and follows every day.

Finally, I would like to share my new song "Jewel Box" with my note readers as a token of my gratitude.

The three completed albums are scheduled to be released on YouTube in the future, but please let me share them here first with my note readers.

The lyrics for this song are based on personal events in my life.
However, by turning my honest feelings into a song, I put my heart into creating it, hoping it will be even a little bit of encouragement to everyone who supports me.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments❤️

Look forward to the next one too~

✴️ Teacher Aaru | Life Storytelling Companion

So that everyone living on this planet can tell their own life story with their own power.

🦉Teacher Aaru's other platforms are here 🦉

🩵 X (formerly Twitter) → @aaru_sensei
🎧 Podcast → Spotify show page
🎵 YouTube (original compositions) → YouTube channel