The nights when I return home and feel a little smaller

It's Teruteru-chan. Thank you for coming to read again today.

Today is about 'the night of returning home'.

When I return to my parents' house, I somehow revert to 'the me from back then'.

I'm packing my bags for the trip home.
A change of clothes, souvenirs, and a charger.
That's all I need to prepare, yet for some reason, my heart feels heavy.

When I arrive at my parents' house, it starts the moment I open the front door.

'Are you doing your job properly?'
'Are you eating enough?'
'Aren't you thinking about marriage?'

I know they are worried about me.
Because I know that, I can't even talk back.

When I sit in the living room, something strange happens.
Usually, I pay my own rent, manage my work, and keep my life in order.
Yet, the moment I sit on the sofa at my parents' house, I am rewound back to my high school self.

The way I speak becomes a little childish.
I start to voice an opinion, then swallow it.
The room that used to be mine no longer feels like my room.

Every time I go home, I feel like I'm shrinking a little.
You're not the only one who feels that way.

That atmosphere is not rain that you brought with you.

Even though I am the same person, the weather in my heart is completely different between the city where I live and my parents' house.
It's the same me, but the weather in my heart is completely different.

This is not because you are weak.

Just as the weather in the city is different from the weather in the mountains, every place has its own atmosphere.
My parents' house has its own atmospheric pressure, and
when you enter it, you are pulled back to the old weather your body remembers.
That's all it is.

So, even if you feel suffocated at your parents' house,
you don't have to think, 'Is something wrong with me?'
You didn't bring the rain.

When I told Hoshimaru about this, he looked puzzled and said:

'You know, stars are the same stars no matter where you look at them from. Whether from the sky or from your window at home, they sparkle the same way.'

......Maybe because he's a child, he says things like that so easily.
Even if the place changes, you remain yourself.
Perhaps that's what it is.

Three small charms for the night you return home

Even if it's hard to change the weather in your heart, you can prepare an umbrella. Here are just three things you can do tonight.

First.
Decide on just one thing you will 'let slide'.
'Letting talk about marriage slide'—that alone is enough.
Please write it down in your smartphone memo.

Second.
At the end of the day, write down one line about 'how you were a proper adult today.' 'I brewed my own coffee'
'I gently changed the subject'
Place the evidence of your 'grown-up self' next to your 'shrunken self'.

Third.
Consciously create '5 minutes of time for yourself'.
Even in the restroom or a walk to the convenience store is fine.
Once you are alone, take three deep breaths.
That alone will help you return from the atmosphere of your parents' home to your own weather.

Being able to notice that you have shrunk is proof that you have truly grown.

Feeling that you 'shrink when you return home' is
proof that you are standing firmly in your daily life.

If you were exactly the same as your former self, you wouldn't notice the difference.
The reason you feel uncomfortable is because you are already
in a different place than you were back then.

The Obon season is different for every family.
But everyone's feelings about returning home are a little complicated.
You go back because you love them.
But it is painful when you return.
That contradiction is not strange.

Your parents' worry and your own mixed feelings are both true.
It is not that one is wrong; it is just that the weather is different.

You, who can notice that you have shrunk,
have already grown enough.

On nights you cannot carry it all alone

You might not have much time to be alone while visiting home.

I think there are nights when the mixed feelings are too deep to carry alone.
At such times, do not push yourself; please rely on professional consultation services.
That is not a sign of weakness, but a proper form of care.

If it is not quite that serious, but you just want someone to listen on a night like this—please come visit our LINE 'Teruteru-chan and Hoshimaru'. If you send 'Today's rain', Teruteru-chan will send back a kind word. If you send your zodiac sign (e.g., Leo), Hoshimaru will tell you today's fortune.

▼ Add friend here
https://lin.ee/pHowexb

On a night when your heart feels a little heavy while packing your bags.
The fact that you decided to go home is enough to show you are a kind person.

End today with our usual phrase.

I've taken care of today's rain☀️