The journey of self-discovery

“The journey of self-discovery is like a treasure box filled with memories and experiences waiting to be explored, just like the jewelry box from Paris that held the precious bracelet.

My niece sent me a message and photo on Line.

Niece: This is the shell bracelet Hitomi gave me a long time ago!
Me: It fits perfectly. Where did I get it?
Niece: I wonder where? It was in this jewelry box.
Me: The jewelry box is a souvenir from France.
Niece: Oh really? How much was it?

And I traced the memories of the past in my mind. It was Paris. I was led through a green-covered gate into a shop, which happened to be a toy shop, where I looked for souvenirs for my two nieces. In Japan, toy shops are usually neatly lined with plastic toys on shelves, but the toy shop in Paris was like a fantasy world as if I had entered a treasure box. And there I found a treasure box, a music box with a lovely ballet dancer twirling to Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers. I looked at the date the photo was taken on my iPhone, it was 23 October 2013. Come to think of it, that was my grandmother’s birthday.

I checked the blog for posts from that day. I remembered that time in vivid detail and felt nostalgic.

And my niece asked, “Where’s your blog post from the day my brother was born?” So I found the blog and sent it to her. The article said, “This is what my two sisters looked like on the day their brother was born”, and there were the mischievous faces of my two young nieces.

Niece: I still like the blog because it keeps the memory alive.
Me: Yes, it does. Every day what accumulation becomes present for the future. In English, it’s called “present”, which means gift.

Now, where was the shell bracelet from? The only seaside I could think of was Yoron Island. I went back to the articles on Yoron Island and found them. I bought them from an old lady when I went to Yurigahama beach, which only appears at low tide. I felt nostalgic, remembering that when I bought the bracelet, she even gave me a bun and a cup of tea. I then sent the link.

Niece: oh! Is this shell bracelet genuine?
Me: Of course, I bought it from an old lady in Yoron Island.
Niece: Eh, I thought it was fake!
Me: You’re a Tokyo girl.

It all started with a simple message from my niece, which led me down a path of tracing memories and discovering treasures from the past. So I then compiled my travel diary from 2006 to the 2019 Rocketman concert before the pandemic on my life coach’s website.

Through my solo travels as a life coach, I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. And now, as I share my experiences and insights with others, I hope to help them on their own paths of self-exploration.