I Made Friends Even as an Adult

On Sunday, I went to an event for a paid magazine (by Suisui-san) that I subscribe to on note.

It was truly so much fun, a one-of-a-kind day...
I wanted to write down my thoughts before this feeling faded, but two days have already passed. I wonder if I'll be able to publish this today.

It's hard to explain Suisui-san.
If you're curious, I hope you'll subscribe to the magazine. You can read raw, fresh diaries (or rather, life itself) that are hard to believe for just 600 yen a month. I just love Suisui-san's essays!
Also, if you send in a request for advice, she answers almost 100 percent of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So! First, when the event was announced.
I thought, '20 people, huh...'
I hesitated, wondering if I was allowed to join such a group, but I also really wanted to go, so I checked the application form almost every day.
The day I saw that about 17 people had already signed up, I just went for it and applied.

This was all I knew about the event:
・It would be held at a place called bar bossa in Shibuya
・We might look back on the progress of our 2023 wishes (the ones subscribers wrote and sent in at the beginning of the year)
・We could send in questions for advice beforehand
・Bring a snack (anything is fine)

Since I'm a worrier, I thought about a lot of things leading up to the day.

First of all, I included a diet-related wish in my 2023 goals... wouldn't it be bad if I didn't have any results to show for it?
I had a friend's wedding at the end of June, so I thought it was perfect timing and went on a strict diet.
Although I lost about 3 kilos in two weeks, I ended up feeling burnt out and getting sick after the wedding. As a result, I just ate whatever I wanted for the few days before the event.

Then there was the outfit and the snack.
Suisui-san is stylish, and I was sure the people coming would be stylish too, so I started scouring ZOZOTOWN.
I usually work from home and don't have many friends, so my wardrobe is really limited.
In the end, I couldn't decide, so I chose to wear a Naomi Watanabe T-shirt.

The snack! That was hard!
I wanted to bring something a bit stylish, and didn't Suisui-san not eat wheat...? No, wait, does she eat McDonald's...? I don't know!!!! So I decided to bring some stylish Kaki-no-tane rice crackers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then, the day arrived.

There were about five people who brought stylish Kaki-no-tane. Too much overlap!

Right away, Iei-san came up to me and asked, 'Are you Onami-san...?' I was nervous, so I was happy.
But I stayed nervous after that, and I feel like I only talked about the weather.

My nervousness melted away right after the self-introductions began.
Suisui-san actually introduced the participants (magazine subscribers) to each other.
When Suisui-san said about me, 'She's still hung up on T-senpai, but she's dating a boyfriend she met three months after they broke up!' and 'Onami-san, who sent in her entire budget on the podcast!', everyone reacted with 'Ohhh~!', which was a strange feeling.
It's kind of funny to think that everyone is reading the same note and listening to the same podcast at home or on the train.
The other introductions were also punchy and interesting.
By the way, this is it👇

There were also people who asked, 'What did you think when you heard that answer on the podcast...?', which made me happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, this is what I wanted to say the most...
I never knew there were so many people in the world I could get along with so well!

What was wonderful was...
・Because everyone reads Suisui-san's raw, unfiltered diary, no one tries to hide anything, and our ethics are similar
・It's fun to talk honestly, and there's almost no need to hold back, wondering if it's okay to say certain things
・Everyone is tolerant of others; there's no one who would flat-out deny someone else
・Conversely, since the only thing we have in common is 'subscribing to the same magazine,' our ages and occupations are truly diverse, so I got to hear all sorts of life stories
・Simply put, everyone is incredibly kind and interesting

The two and a half hours flew by, so I couldn't talk to everyone slowly, but from the 'Uh-huh...', 'Wow!', and 'Hahaha!' reactions when Suisui-san was talking to the whole group, I knew for sure that everyone was a good person.
Even though some pretty deep episodes and worries came out from the participants, words like 'I hear you,' 'I understand,' and 'It's okay to be yourself' were flying around.

Also, everyone was stylish, beautiful, and cute in their own way, but their styles were truly all over the place.
I realized that when I'm at home looking at Twitter or whatever, I've been getting crushed by stereotypes like 'This is beauty!!! This is a bombshell beauty!!!'
(What even is a bombshell beauty anyway?💢)
It's the same with dieting and fashion; I really thought, 'I should stop killing my own individuality... who was I fighting against...?'
So, I had a realization from a mysterious angle.

My favorite Naomi-chan T-shirt, which I decided to wear because I had nothing else, actually came in handy.
Someone I had wanted to get to know just by seeing them for a few seconds at the venue said to me, 'Naomi-chan's videos are so cute and funny...!'
We promised to go for tea sometime, so I'm looking forward to that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two and a half hours really went by in a flash.
Talking with Suisui-san, the whole group getting excited together, and chatting with everyone one-on-one—it was all so much fun.
From the time it ended until the next night, I was just floating on air.

Until now, I thought that holidays spent alone were better than being with anyone else.
Going to cafes, browsing bookstores, eating breakfast. I thought that kind of freedom and ease was the greatest happiness.

But I realized something... meeting and talking with people you click with is incredibly fun!!!!
I thought it was hard to make friends as an adult, but I was able to get close to several people in just a few hours.

Thank you to Suisui-san for hosting. And thank you to Riyo-san and Hayashi-san from bar bossa!
I will never forget this day...

Thank you to everyone who talked to me as well!
To those I was able to talk to and those I couldn't, I'd love to go for tea or drinks sometime (I live in the Kanto region)🍵

This is a bit disorganized, but it was just so much fun. If there is a second event, I would definitely love to participate again.

✉️ My Twitter link is in my note profile, so if you'd like to get to know me, please feel free to DM me anytime!! (Even if you weren't at the event)