🌿Afterword | Welcome home.

After finishing this journey

Up to this point,

thank you so much.

Now that you are closing this book,

how are you feeling?

Do you feel like something has changed?

Or,

do you feel like nothing has changed at all?

Either is fine.

This journey,

was not a journey to change.

It was not a journey to become someone else either.

It was a journey to,

little by little, remember what you had forgotten.

The things you remembered

The self that compares yourself to others.

The self that was hurt.

The self that kept trying so hard.

The self that wanted to cry.

All of it,

It was you.

So,

none of your selves,

need to disappear.

none of your selves,

are allowed to be here.

On days when you feel lost

In life,

there are days when things go well.

There are days when things don't go as planned.

There will be days when you compare yourself to others again.

There will be days when you blame yourself.

When such a day comes,

please remember.

That you don't have to look for the answer.

That you don't have to force yourself to be positive.

First,

try feeling it.

Deep in your heart,

right now,

What are you feeling?

By listening closely,

to that small voice,

just by doing that,

you are already,

walking the path back to yourself.

The questions will continue to

In this book,

there were many questions.

But,

there are no right answers to those questions.

The questions are,

not meant to test you,

but rather,

meant to lead you back to your own heart.

So from now on,

when you feel lost,

please try asking yourself gently.

Is that really true?

And then,

Stop for a moment,

and take a breath.

The present moment is everything.

Those words,

are not meant to bind you.

They are a signal to bring your overthinking mind,

once again,

back to feeling.

To you,

in your life,

it is not about someone else's correct answer,

but about how you feel.

The heart that feels joy.

The heart that feels sadness.

The heart that wants to cherish things.

The heart that feels frustration.

All of that,

is your life alone.

Please,

from now on as well,

Please cherish that heart of yours.

What you have felt,

does not need to be the same as anyone else's.

What you have felt,

even if it is not acknowledged by others,

is something precious to you.

Therefore,

the voice of your own heart,

please continue to believe in it.

Welcome home.

If,

you get lost again.

If,

you feel pained again.

As many times as you need,

please open this book.

In here,

there are no answers.

But,

there are questions to help you return to yourself.

And,

finally,

to you who kept walking this journey.

There are words I want to tell you from my heart.

Welcome home.

You,

did not go anywhere far away.

You were,

here all along.

You just didn't notice.

So,

it is okay not to become someone new.

You don't have to try harder.

You don't have to be like anyone else.

You,

are fine just as you are.

On happy days.

On sad days.

On days you feel lost.

On days you can laugh.

Even on days when you want to cry.

While carrying all of that with you,

you,

can walk through your own life.

If this book,

in the middle of that journey,

can become a place you can return to again and again,

I would be very happy.

With heartfelt gratitude.

Yukiyo 🌿

Welcome home.