Where you are placed is where you belong now | Not "this is fine," but "from here" | #2🌈

Hello.

Welcome to the world of "clu" 🌠
Welcome to the world of "clu"tch 🌃

Last time, I wrote about the theme of "retieing your shoelaces at the entrance to the Valley of the Wind," starting with a book introduction.

This time, I will write with the theme of "the place where you are placed is the starting point 'from here'."

The place where you are placed is the starting point "from here."

What nostalgic pain and a distant whistle tell us

At the entrance to the Valley of the Wind, you retie your shoelaces. And, every time you take a step, don't you sometimes feel the echoes of the past?
(I do, a little 😓)

The scent of a sudden evening shower from that day, laughter, and the small, prickly pain etched deep in my heart...

The "what ifs" that come back to life like opening an old diary

"Ah, if only I had done that back then..."

Deep in my heart, like an old diary, many "what ifs" are tucked away. Every time I turn the page, the regrets and the precious things I let go of come back to life vividly.

It may feel like the sound of a steam whistle echoing from a distant town—melancholic, tinged with a hint of loneliness, and perhaps holding your feet back with a heavy weight.

Have you ever experienced replaying your past choices over and over, like rewinding a reel of old film?

What if I had chosen a different path at that fork in the road?

What if I had been able to say those words?

Such questions emerge and fade in your heart like countless stars twinkling in the night sky. Just like a drawing in the sand being washed away by the waves...

The accumulation of "what ifs" shapes who you are today

But when you think about it, that accumulation of "what ifs" is what shapes who you are today. The regrets of that time, the pain of what you let go—all of it is part of the journey you have walked.

Just as every raindrop and every ray of light is necessary for a rainbow🌈 to arch across the sky after the rain, there is surely no such thing as a perfect choice anywhere. There was simply the path that you, at that moment, chose with all your might.

Shedding the armor of "how things should be"

"How things should be"—the gaze of society and others can sometimes bind us tightly.

The path our parents desire, the direction our friends are heading, the image of someone shining on social media. Without realizing it, we struggle to become the ideal version of ourselves that someone else has painted.

It is like mixing someone else's colors into your own on a painter's canvas.

Eventually, the painting that was supposed to be uniquely yours turns into vague, indistinct colors.

But we were not born to trace someone else's shadow in that way. Each one of us is a one-of-a-kind existence in this vast universe.

Just as no two fingerprints are the same, the emotions and thoughts deep within our hearts are different from anyone else's. So, why not gently take off that heavy armor of "how things should be"?🌿

To find your own "from here"

It might take a little bit of courage, like standing barefoot in a wide meadow for the first time.

The feeling of the wind brushing against your skin, the scent of the soil, the vastness of the sky.

Feeling the world as it is with your own five senses. That should be the first step toward becoming free from past pain and the gaze of others, and finding your own "from here."

We have walked this far while carrying many wounds. Those scars are proof of our strength that will never fade away.

I think they tell the story of how much time we have survived, much like the growth rings carved into the trunk of an old tree.

So, please don't blame yourself anymore✨

The past, present, and future are connected in a single line

When I was still small, I often looked at old photo albums at my grandmother's house.

In the faded photographs, there was me crying terribly, or me having fallen and scraped my knees.

I still remember well that I often got hurt when I was in kindergarten(>_<)

Every time that happened, my grandmother would gently stroke my head and say:

"It's okay. Pain makes you stronger."

Those words still shine like a warm light deep within my heart even now.☺️

The past self, the present self, and the future self. They are not separate entities, but are connected by a single thread. The nostalgic pain and the distant whistle of a train are all part of the scenery that colors our journey.

Embracing all of that, the courage to take a step "from here."

That surely has the same meaning as loving yourself deeply.

Now, close your eyes and listen to the sound of the small train whistle echoing deep within your heart. It might just be announcing the beginning of your own unique story that continues from the past into the future.

Thank you for reading until the end.

If this article could give you even a little push, that would be my greatest wish.

See you in the next article!