Reuniting after 5 years, everyone was struggling with 'Is this really the life I want?'

I met up with a classmate (a younger man) from my vocational school days for the first time in five years.

I was surprised to get a LINE message from him after such a long time.

(Oh, for those who have been supporting me since my Parinko days. This is not the partner from that time lol)

While thinking I didn't really want to go out on a Saturday (since most people are off on weekends), and reflecting on my own tendency to lose interest if scheduling gets messy, I decided to send a message saying, 'Then how about this place at this time?'

Then, due to his availability and various other things, I thought, 'Ah, this is a hassle after all' lol, but we managed to settle on a time, so I met up with him to catch up on how things have been.

Recently, I've been getting invited out more often. Is it just that kind of season, or has my stage in life leveled up?

He didn't specifically ask about my work, but when I told him I write articles and sell illustrations on a platform called note, and asked if I could write about today's episode, he said, 'Please do, by all means' lol.

Things I realized from our reunion after 5 years

He (Glasses-kun) still has that unique sense of humor. He told me, 'Eri-san, you haven't changed at all' and 'You're easy to talk to.'

At 32, I quit the welfare job I'd been doing forever. I suddenly jumped in saying, 'I'm going to become a Web designer!'

(I dreamed that any job I could do from home would be fine! I didn't even work on self-understanding, I just enrolled on pure momentum. I later found out I had absolutely no aptitude for it.)

For my graduation project, I created and presented a biscuit website for children. (You know, the kind where you think about concepts and target audiences, do the design and coding, and make a fictional site. I was crying every day.)

I wanted to put cute illustrations on the site, but even when I tried to pull them from the free site Illustration AC, nothing felt quite right...

So, I had no choice but to draw surreal illustrations like 'Kabochan the Pumpkin' and put those up. I think I probably drew them with a pencil on copy paper, scanned them, and colored them in Photoshop??

Unexpectedly, everyone told me they were so cute! I was surprised, thinking, 'Oh? My illustrations are cute? Even though anyone could draw something at this level.'

At that time, I couldn't even draw paths in Illustrator, and I was frustrated that my hand and the screen were different. (Drawing pictures with a mouse was impossible for me.)

I remember feeling like I was going crazy, thinking, 'Let me draw directly on the screen!! On the screen!!'

(It's a mystery how, after getting an iPad and Apple Pencil a few years later, I got hooked and ended up taking illustration commissions.)

He (Glasses-kun) was in the same graduation project group, and we shared the ups and downs together. Back then, he knew about the concept of HSP, had taken the StrengthsFinder test, and lent me the book 'StrengthsFinder 2.0'.

(Back then, I thought, 'Paying money for a personality test? No way!' I had zero interest, didn't take it, and returned the book almost unread. 🤫) (Confessing this now)

Since then, I told them that I had taken the CliftonStrengths assessment and had started accepting illustration commissions, and I showed them my work.

Apparently, my illustrations are in the 'Chibi Maruko-chan style'

they said.

Whoa~~~ as expected. That's amazing. As someone who loves Chibi Maruko-chan and respects Momoko Sakura, I was incredibly happy. ☺️

Since we have similar interests, we hit it off right away. From the very start, I was asked, 'Eri-san, what is your MBTI type?'It's funny how we watch similar YouTube channels, too.

Lately, rather than CliftonStrengths, it seems like MBTI is what people ask about, or maybe it's just trendy among young people? It feels like everyone knows it as a matter of course. (I was in the older age bracket at the vocational school.)

(※ By the way, I am an INFJ, the Advocate ✨ Yeah, that feels right~ lol)

The 'I don't necessarily want to live in Tokyo, but Tokyo is better' problem

'My ideal is a dual-residence life between Niigata and Tokyo, like living in Tokyo during the winter when the weather is nice. If you ask me if I want to live in Tokyo permanently, there are too many people, the water doesn't agree with me, and it seems tough.'

'But even if I stay in Niigata, there are no coworking-style spaces at all, and even if one opens, people don't go, so it goes out of business 🥲'

At that, Glasses-kun said

I was so surprised when he said that!!!

It’s exactly the town I thought was nice after watching the movie 'We Made a Beautiful Love Story.' An acquaintance of mine in Tokyo lives along the Keio Line, and they had also told me, 'Chofu would be just right for you, haha.'

Seeing the 'Setagaya Clason' note, I thought, 'Shino-san, who I admire, lives nearby too!,' and I was just drifting away in a daze, but it’s probably hard to live there given the rent.

But maybe it’s a distance I could easily travel to?? (I don’t have a sense of the area, so I don’t really know) I want to walk around in the nice weather and visit all the shops!

And then, I want to do some writing with a cafe latte in hand!!

It was a bit surprising that Glasses-kun (sorry for calling you that) had the experience of moving out of Niigata to live elsewhere.

Do all the people whose sensibilities match mine live in the Keio Line area? It’s amazing. It really makes me feel like everything is connected.

Next time I go on a trip to Tokyo, I’ll try going to Chofu Station too. Exciting. My list of things to look forward to has grown.

Maybe there are a lot of people who want to do something but can't make a move🦆

I feel like there are a lot of people like this...

Especially in rural areas, there are a lot of factory jobs. Everyone says the interpersonal relationships are good, so I tried working a short-term part-time job for my own activities + rice work 🍚, but it was intense. Why on earth...

I laugh because Glasses-kun says that to me.

Even though I only lasted half a year while coughing up blood at the relentless assembly line, him saying ‘You did your best’ makes me feel his kindness and a sense of camaraderie as fellow introverts.

I did attend a vocational training school for Web design, but from the very beginning, I was clearly told, ‘It’s difficult to get a job in this field’ and ‘Freelancing is also difficult.’

As expected, among my classmates at the training school, the only ones who got jobs in the Web industry were those who already had experience, right?

Thinking about it that way, am I actually quite rare for taking on illustration commissions as an individual, even if it’s just a little bit???

Regardless of the results, even if I’m not earning enough right now, I realized that just challenging yourself toward your dreams and goals is a very happy thing.

(By the way, while I was attending vocational school, I updated my note every single day for 100 days! Take that.)

An article that still gets a lot of traffic ▼

When you’re in the world of note, you feel inferior thinking everyone is writing amazing notes, but you mustn’t forget that in the outside world, the majority of people haven’t even created an account yet!

I think everyone who is writing is already several steps ahead just by doing that!! (snorting excitedly😤).

I see~~.

I'm working normally now, butmaybe there are quite a few people who are bombarded with information saying, 'You can't just stay like this!', and who want to do something but don't know where to start.

I'm currently thinking about creating my own original service, and I was able to conduct an interview unexpectedly; it was such a helpful time!

Thank you, thank you!!✨✨

Once I decided to 'live by writing,' the people I met changed

When I said,

'Right now, I want to turn my writing expressions into content and keep creating. That's where I want to spend the most time, so I find it hard to feel motivated to meet people unless I feel there's more value than that.Time is life, after all!! (serious face),'

he replied,

'You're very conscious about that, aren't you~ haha'

said Megane-kun.

When I answered, 'Oh no. Maybe I'm also being poisoned by modern information!'

he said.

Furthermore,

"My dream is to get published."

When I said that,

they said, without even laughing.
(I thought they would be put off)

What a great person~~~~~！！！！！🥹🥹🥹

"To live by writing, to connect with people" Ever since I decided that, everyone around me has been cheering me on, saying, "Please keep writing about today's episodes too!"

Even if it's an anonymous essay, you never know where connections might lead, so I take as much care as possible with privacy, andthe previous episode at Tully'swas also written with the staff member's permission.

"I'm so happy to be featured in Eri-san's essay😊❣️"Hearing that makes me happy too.

I'm proud to be the kind of person and have the kind of space where people are happy to be featured on my note.

The message I received from Rie-san made me feel, 'Ah, I really am meant to make a living through writing!' It was so moving that I'll write a separate article about it ✏️

Ah~~ I want to write, I want to write, I want to write!!!

In all my life, I've never felt like I didn't have anything to write about. It's so much fun!!! (Madness)

I want to keep writing until the day the Earth ends!!!🌏🔥

However, even though the things I want to write about are overflowing, I can't keep up with putting them into shape. I need about five more versions of Eri. It's truly frustrating that I have a mountain of drafts that will never see the light of day.

I have a feeling that eventually, ChatGPT will be able to perfectly copy me and write for me.

Since I started using it myself, I can immediately tell when looking at other people's notes, 'Oh, this was written by AI,' and the moment I realize that, my interest fades, so I want to preserve my passion and human touch🍵

Wait? I was taught that the appropriate length for a readable essay is 800 to 1000 characters, but I've already written 4000 characters...

The right thing to do is to split the articles and keep writing ones that are easy to read and don't burden the readers!!!

Oh well.

With love to you who read this far.

Today is apparently the luckiest day, so something good will happen to you🌸

Let me cast a spell on you 🪄

2025/3/10 Eri Hoshina

⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒¨⌒

I recently wrote a paid note on the hopeless theme of 'I don't want to work, but I want money' 🙋🏻‍♀️

But! It's been incredibly well-received, and the author is surprised!

I've received happy feedback saying, 'Eri-san, your trial and error was really realistic and it was a great article' 😭

If you're interested, please take a look ✨

And, I even got this wonderful feedback post on 𝕏...!

I'm also sharing some feedback that made me so happy I almost had a nosebleed💁🏻‍♀️

The more you write, the more you understand yourself and become free!
Everyone, let's keep writing together happily today and turn it into income too!