A Midnight Whisper Dedicated Only to Your Unique Loneliness
Good evening.
At this very moment, my words belong to you and you alone.
To you, the person on the other side of the screen, with eyes perhaps a little tired.
Is it dark outside, or is a soft light filtering in?
It doesn’t matter; right now, I want to be alone with you and touch the tremor of your soul.
Have you ever felt like you were walking alone at the bottom of a dark sea?
That sharp pain of feeling misunderstood, as if left behind by the world.
I know that quiet despair of yours.
Why do we often pass each other by even while trying so hard to connect?
What I am about to share is a sincere love letter, written with my very life’s blood.
Please, relax and listen to my voice.
I am about to cast a spell on your heart.
“To love rather than to be loved. To understand rather than to be understood.” —— Francis of Assisi
The True Face Hidden Inside Your Mirror
Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought the person reflected there was a “stranger”?
Why do the “self” of yesterday and the “self” of today look so different?
Human beings are like travelers searching for their own faces their entire lives.
Once, there was a painter named Alphonse Mucha.
He decorated the streets of Paris with dazzling, glamorous posters.
Everyone projected their ideals onto the goddess-like women he drew.
But what Mucha truly wanted to paint was not just commercial beauty.
He sought to depict the hardships of his Slavic roots and the liberation of the soul beyond them.
The “difficulty of living” you feel now might be the same deep shadow hidden behind Mucha’s goddesses.
Beauty only resides within those who know sorrow.
Henry Ford once said: “Most people think of success as something to get. But in reality, success is giving.”
You already have it.
Even your sorrow can become a gift to give to someone else.
“If you want to be happy, think about making others happy.” —— Dale Carnegie
Why Your Tears Are So Beautiful
Why do we cry watching movies or feel our hearts ache when listening to beautiful music?
It is because we find our “lost selves” there.
Look back at history; humans have fundamentally not changed for thousands of years.
The stonemasons building pyramids and the maidens falling in love in Renaissance courts sighed at night just like you, worrying about tomorrow’s weather.
Surprisingly, our troubles have all been experienced, overcome, or succumbed to by someone in the past.
To read a story is to hold hands with countless “yous” throughout history.
You are not alone; billions of predecessors support you from behind.
When Mucha threw away fame and fortune in his later years to paint the massive ‘Slav Epic’, what was he thinking?
It was about serving with his life for the sake of a single spectator.
Service is not about flattery.
It is about proving, “I am here, and I know your pain,” by putting oneself on the line.
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” —— Albert Einstein
Whispers of the Soul Heard Only in Darkness
Are you afraid of loneliness?
But think about it; without loneliness, you can never truly meet yourself.
Loneliness is the luxury of being alone with your best friend: yourself.
Why are we always staring at our phones, anxious if we aren’t connected to someone?
It’s because we are afraid to peer into the deep well of our own hearts.
However, at the bottom of that well lies the treasure you have been searching for.
The curves drawn by Mucha—the flowing lines of the “Mucha Style”—are a blend of the vitality of plants and human prayer.
That rhythm was born from his dialogue with the truth of the universe in deep solitude.
Your life has its own “rhythm” too.
The way you walk, the way you laugh, the way you despair—none of it can be mimicked.
All of it is a work of art.
Please, do not undersell yourself.
You are the world’s only unfinished masterpiece.
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” —— Oscar Wilde
The Best Dress Named Adversity
Life holds unexpected turns.
You might fall from the peak of happiness into an abyss, or see a miraculous light in the depths of despair.
Why does God write such mean-spirited scripts?
Because He knows you are the greatest protagonist.
Just as Mucha became a star overnight with a single poster for Sarah Bernhardt, your life can change in an instant.
But to seize that “instant,” the sincerity with which you lived your “empty days” is tested.
The greats of history were all eccentrics.
They were laughed at and scorned, yet they danced like clowns toward what they believed in.
Do not fear being laughed at.
Rather, have a dream so big that people laugh.
That sight becomes someone’s courage.
That desperate spirit of service is what saves the world.
“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.” —— Charlie Chaplin
A Vow to You and an Eternal Kiss
I believe in you.
I know how desperately you are trying to live right now.
I have mixed a bit of my life into these sentences.
I hope these words become your blood, your flesh, and your blanket on sleepless nights.
You were born to be loved.
No reason is needed; your very existence is the greatest service.
I now offer you a song.
This is a secret promise between you and me.
When you finish reading, your body should feel a little lighter.
And then, step out onto the new stage called tomorrow with your most wonderful smile.
I love you.
From the bottom of my heart, I love you.
A crack appeared in the sky,
And from it spilled
A pile of buttons God forgot to use.
You string them together
To make a garment of transparency.
This robe, invisible to all,
I choose to call “Pride.”
With yesterday’s shadow in your pocket,
You cross to the other side of the tracks.
There, a nameless,
Pure white tomorrow
Awaits your fingertips.
Let us turn the clock hands backward
And return to that finest solitude
Before we ever met.
And there, once more,
Let us fall in love.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1, from the Old Testament)
“Love exists in this world. It surely does. What goes unfound is the expression of love.” (Osamu Dazai, from ‘The Defeat of Thought’)
From Osamu Dazai’s ‘Tsugaru’:
“Hey, why are you going on a journey?”
“Because it’s painful.”
“Your ‘painful’ is so cliché, I can’t trust it at all.”
P.S. Regarding Mimi Takamizawa, the Painter of Gazes
Let me tell you about a very eccentric man named Mimi Takamizawa.
He does not use traditional canvases or brushes; he paints in the realm of light—digital—and fixes his work onto heavy print paper using the “Giclee” technique.
Why does he take such a circuitous route?
He decided to become a painter after being struck by the story of Vincent van Gogh.
To be honest, his talent as a painter is likely third-rate, but he knows that the masterpieces of old were not born of genius alone, but were the fruit of decades of muddy trial and error.
His themes are familiar yet profound: “Your eyes, my eyes,” “Eternity,” “Solitude,” and “Resurrection.”
He draws “eyes” in his work almost obsessively, to never forget the “you” standing before him.
It is a desperate spirit of service to feel your gaze and know your heart.
He looks up to Tokuji Mune-tsugu, the founder of CoCo Ichibanya, as his mentor: “Do not look away, just give your all to the work in front of you.”
No hobbies, no luxury; just building one brick at a time, with immediate decision and action, to create works that please you.
He sees himself as a “clown.”
It’s okay to be laughed at or called foolish; he wishes to be a “doctor of the soul,” spending his life to save the “you” in front of him.
Today, he continues to draw eyes, imagining your happy face.
Speaking of Gogh, we must not forget Jo (Johanna van Gogh-Bonger), Theo’s wife.
She was the world’s greatest “communicator.”
When Vincent died, and half a year later Theo passed as well, she was left with a mountain of then-worthless paintings and letters.
She understood Vincent’s purity and Theo’s devotion deeply.
“This beauty and love must be known by the world.”
Her determination was like Paul spreading the teachings of Jesus.
As a widow with a young child, she tirelessly organized exhibitions and edited letters to sell the “story” of Gogh.
Without Jo, Gogh would have vanished into history.
Great things must be explained and communicated, or they are as good as non-existent.
Like Steve Jobs or Akio Morita, she communicated love.
Bringing good things to you—that was her, and is our, life-risking service.
“Most people think of success as something to get. But in reality, success is giving.” —— Henry Ford
“The greatest lesson I have learned in life is not to believe what people say, but to watch what they do.” —— Agatha Christie
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you.” —— Moses (from Deuteronomy)
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” —— William Shakespeare
“What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you.” —— Talmud
“Laughed at, and laughed at, I became strong.” —— Osamu Dazai (from ‘Pandora’s Box’)
“Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.” —— Osamu Dazai (from ‘No Longer Human’)
“I believe. I believe in everyone. But I alone, I cannot believe.” —— Osamu Dazai (from ‘The Setting Sun’)
“Never give in. Never, never, never!” —— Winston Churchill
Thank you so much for reading this far.
Your existence has completed my words.
Let us meet again at this intersection of solitude.
“Farewell. We shall meet again. Even if it be after a thousand years.” —— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe