I was looking for the right answer, but I ended up becoming free

I quite like the word "freedom".

Some might say, "You say freedom so easily, but there's this and that behind it..." but let's put that aside for a moment; I like what I like.

…The reason I've been able to write that so smoothly is thanks to Kotobato-san.

↓ I'm participating in this project!

Actually, my history on note and my history of following Kotobato-san are almost identical. Excluding the official note account, they are truly the very first person I followed.

Looking back now, it feels like a miracle that I encountered them right when I started, and I feel so glad that it happened!

The reason is that at the time, I was "searching for the right answer".

Before starting note, I was posting on a blog, but it was all about conveying the "write like this" templates often seen in writing books.

Even when I tried doing it that way, it didn't feel right. If anything, it felt like it wasn't my own words, and I became less and less able to write. I felt stuck, and my updates stalled.

I started note to break through that situation... and yet, I was still searching for the right answer on note too. Haha.

Kotobato-san's articles were a little different from the "write like this" advice you often see. To begin with, the writing itself didn't feel like that at all. How should I put it... it was freer.

Back then, as a note beginner, the hurdle for me to leave a 'like' was incredibly high.

I would only leave one when I felt, "Your article resonated with me so much I could nod my head off! It's like you're talking about me! I really love it! It's the best!" In other words, I almost never left any (now, I leave them very casually. Haha).

The article by Kotobato-san that I (probably) first left a 'like' on is this one.

I think it hit home because I was carrying so many things around back then.

Thinking I wanted to read the members-only articles too, I knocked on the door of the Writing Club the following month. My initial goal was the exclusive articles... or so it should have been, but when I entered the Writing Club chat, there were many companions waiting there.

Before I knew it, while having fun and asking Kotobato-san questions among them, I had let go of the things I was carrying around. It was as if the hand I had been clenching tightly had loosened on its own.

I think it was Kotobato-san who helped me untangle myself from being tied up in knots while searching for the right answer.

Writing is supposed to be much freer and more fun!

Once I received that message, the current 'Soramame Monaka' was born.

No matter how I think about it, if I hadn't met Kotobato-san at that exact moment, the very existence of Soramame Monaka might have vanished within a few months.

I'm having so much fun right now!
Thanks to you, I've become a third-year student on note!

Thank you, Kotobato-san ☺️

Shiina-san, thank you for organizing this!
You're so good at creating a happy space that I'm completely charmed by it 🙌

#ToKotobatoSan2026