Happiness Seeds: Message in a Backpack Project...

 

So, finally completed the website for Messages in a Backpack Project - "Exchanging messages with the earthquake/tsunami survivors in Japan"

I wrote about the project a lot, here: 

http://tokoshiiki.com/about_mb_project.html

So, if you'd like to know more about the project, please read the page :)

and

Here is the website:

http://tokoshiiki.com/mbproject.html

I hope you enjoy this......

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I am one of Japanese who heard the news about the earthquake in the other country. A strong coldness ran into my body when I got to know about it. Fear, sadness, anger, or I don't even know, many kinds of mixed emotions were crazily becoming a vortex inside. How are they really doing? Is he alive? Does she find her mom? Guilt; I was not there. Felt so far far away from my home country. "What is really going on?" I felt very helpless. 

...But at the same time... I didn't want to just stay in the sadness. Rather, I wanted to do something. But...     "What can I do, really?" 

That was the biggest question at that time. The disaster was too much anyway for me to even imagine.

...No matter what I tried so hard, I could not truly experience the disaster in just my imagination; however, I could imagine how this event will strongly effect on their lives (not only physically, but also mentally), especially younger people.

    ***

When I was around eight and nine years old, I was alone most of the time. I didn't talk or eat much. I threw up many times. I was very skinny ugly one who didn't have a friend. I could not express my sadness, fear, or anger. I think I didn't even know how to do. There were many difficulties for me to be at school and at home. I was drawing and writing stories to escape from the hardness in my room, alone, everyday, all the time. At that time, IF someone had written a letter to me... 

   ***

At that time, I loved the story "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I sometimes became Mary in my mind. I dreamed about opening the secret garden someday. One day I started writing a letter to Mary and also wrote a response from her. I took the photo of Mary (a tiny painting of her face on the front page of the book. She is in the secret garden in the painting. It was a very blur image. Only one time I showed the photo to someone.) I know, this is totally just in my imagination but I really dreamed to be a friend of her and exchange letters with her. I was very lonely and I didn't even think how silly what I was doing at that time: Writing letter to myself as the imaginary friend Mary and writing a response to her. But, seriously... actually... to be honest with you, it encouraged me. (I have never told this story before to anyone...) Too weird? maybe... well... I was very serious at that time.

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... Long story short, when I have heard about the difficulties which those kids in the Tohoku area were experiencing, I wanted to let them know, "you are not alone. Someone in the other place is truly thinking of you." And started thinking about "how can I let them know about this?" and later it became this project...  

This might be really really small thing for the survivors, to compare to what they really have to go through. But... if they (actually not only the survivors but also the people who wrote a message to them) felt something by participating in this message exchanging project... that can be something really important later in their lives....
Or, maybe nothing. But, I think it's fine in both ways. In any case, I really really really enjoyed doing this. Yes, like the man whom I met in Japan said, this is "Planting happiness seeds". I enjoy planting them. By thinking about the seeds, I am happy too.  Yes, hopefully they will bloom later... 

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... I stop now... wrote toooooo much... I know!

...Please take some time to see these messages between people living on opposite sides of the planet. And if you feel something in-between those words and words... well...... I truly stop. ;p

Toko

http://tokoshiiki.com