You guys know Kimchisama right? You should. If you don’t, boy are you in for a treat. By the way, if you happen to be a student there’s a non-zero chance that Kimchi is your teacher, and wouldn’t it be awesome to know your teacher is geeking out over the same shows! Also…blackmail…
But this shouldn’t be a silly post, or maybe it should…
Recently, Kimchi hit a landmark on her blog and decided to share with us a little shard of her life which was both heartbreaking and deeply touching. It takes a special type of courage to share pain. It’s a lot harder than it may seem and most of us (myself for sure) never really know how to accept it. But you know, when someone decides show you their weakness or sadness, it’s a gift. We all do our best to accept it. Some are better than others.
Auri is one of those people whose wonderful at it – if you remember her tender show of love for the community. It’s still one of those things that make me proud to be sitting at the same table as my fellow anibloggers.
And now Kimchi has started her own initiative. Kindly forcing us to remember that life is deeply beautiful, and pain is always worth it. Thank you, Kimchi. Your readers, students and friends are very lucky.
So, what is all this about. Well go read Kimchi’s post! Kimchi has started a tag – a very pretty one and has seen it in her heart to nominate me. I am grateful. I am even more grateful to read other people’s posts on this.
RULES:
1. Mention the person who nominated you
You know, I’m not going to speak for anyone else, but I would love for you to mention Kimchisama instead of me. Her post was very pretty and it’s worth spreading the word.
2. List 13 reasons why you keep going/living (This is borrowed from the book but I’m taking it the opposite direction).
No problemo!
3. Nominate 10 or more people to give their reasons why.
Kimchi, 10 is A LOT – I’ll try though
4. Use the picture that I created in your post. I’m sorry that I’m a bit bad a making these things… But I tried 🙂
Stop that, it’s great!
So here are 13 among the infinite number of reasons why I wake up every morning knowing that I lucked out:
1. My Home – You know that feeling when you’ve been working like crazy and you almost don’t remember what your house looks like, and you decided to go out with friends and get home really late and then you’re home. It’s not so much a place as a state of mind and it’s so comforting and safe – that!
2. My Bed – Being able to dream is one of the greatest gifts of the miracle that is our brain. I do not take it for granted.
3. I’m not that smart – I still have so much to learn and I do so every day! Everything is a potential revelation, I live in a world of wonders and mysteries the likes of which no epic fantasy could ever come close to capturing.
4. I’m pretty smart – I can still learn and appreciate it for the treat that it is. I’ve long ago let go of the need to prove my brains to anyone and that has allowed me to enjoy my blind spots – that’s pretty genius methinks.

5. Montreal – I came to Canada as a teenager and like a lot of immigrants – I LOVE my adopted town. People here smile, they help you out. If you have a mass of people waiting for the bus, they will naturally get on no pushing, letting some people on first. Winters are long and bitter, summers are stifling but the people are always warm and everybody’s just so cool.
6. Traveling – I have been *blessed* to have traveled a lot and as such I inherently know that I can jump on a plane and be somewhere else. It’s not an alien notion to me. I live with the deep-rooted sense of freedom. I would be a great fugitive….not that I am or anything.
7. Cheese – I’m a vegetarian and 90% of the time I stick to grains and vegetables. And not the yummy fresh baked bread grains, the lean, no calories, untransformed, no added sugar grains. It actually makes me a little sad to type that. But once in a while I will treat myself to a mountain of Nachos or delicious homemade Mac n Cheese and play a cheesy otome along with it!

8. Love – I don’t talk about my relationship on this blog and I’ve no real plans on starting now but love is great! If you have it in your life it’s cozy, if not then the prospect is exciting!
9. Friends – I’m a bit of a weirdo and a LOT of an introvert. Being friends with me is an acquired taste, this means my friend group has been whittled down to the best of the best. My friends make me a better person and I am so proud of them. I hope to get more but I’m still only accepting the best!
10. Anime et al. – We live in a world on the brink of tomorrow. Technology and science are pushing the limits of reality into magic and everything is neatly blended together in fiction. The idea that I will go home tonight and plunge into a world of vibrant colors and infinite possibilities makes me giddy. For realz.

11. Internet – Speaking of infinite possibilities, how did I manage to exist in a time where I can have the entire world…actually every entire world, all of history and most of the future, right at my fingertips?
12. You – How many times do I have to say it? You guys are the best. To me, the idea that I can connect with a stranger. That someone who doesn’t know me and has nothing to gain from listening to my random thoughts ill still go out of their way to read them, is a great validation. I will never say it enough – Thank you!
13. Buddy
Man I didn’t even get to Otomes, and video games, and having a drink on a Friday night…On discovering like-minded souls.
But there’s one thing that’s really important to me. I’m going to die, I know that, but as long as I’m alive, options are endless. I have no clue what the future will bring but I know for a fact pain gets numbed with time. It turns into nostalgia and if you let it, into wisdom. If you’re around, you still have a chance to help someone else, to get lucky, to win the lotto, to love and be loved in return. The way out will always be there so you’re not losing anything by gambling on life. Even if it gets bad, it will get better eventually, and there are still those great times to be had in the middle of the terrible ones.
And besides, I go to bed every single night knowing that I live in the best possible world at the best possible time, and it just keeps getting better:
OK so now – you tell me:
I realize that this type of exercise isn’t for everyone. If you don’t want to do a post, I perfectly understand. However, I would really appreciate it if you still made the list in your head. It’ll be our little secret.
Hugs
i
Aww this was just a nice post 😀
And Oh My Glob Buddy. Buddy’s little face in that photo is so incredibly cute. I can see why Buddy’s one of your reasons 😀
Right…and people think pitbulls are scary
You’re so right 🙂 Buddy looks like a really sweet dog 😀
A beautiful message.
Sometimes the world and life can be so overwhelming, which is why it is important to remember the things, people, animals and dreams that stand as your reason to continue forward.
Hi Brittney – I hope the tag gets around to you as well. I know you can write beautifully, especially gentle and touching posts
That means a lot! And I hope the opportunity arrives, but other than that I am just going to enjoy sitting back and reading posts that are personal to others. Often it is refreshing and comforting in some way
Great post. ^ ^
Than you Bento – I know you were tagged too and I’m looking forward to read yours
This tag is both brilliant and really beautiful! I’ll be sure to write up my own response to one as soon as possible!
I found your reasons very enjoyable to read, and a lot of them are similar to my own too.
Thank you for tagging me!
well great minds – I was hoping to see Kitty pics!
This tag was something spectacular and I’m super glad to hear from you about it!
I will be attempting mine today as well~
Can’t wait! I’m sure you’ll know just what to say
What a wonderful tag!! We all have to remember the things that keep us going, or what’s the point??
I’ll drink to that!
Whooo more nominations, I love nominations!
…
;.;
Well, it’s a lovely tag so I’ll respond to it I suppose….
I rarely bug you with tags. I *could*. Ask Shoka…
As someone who has been battling depression lately, This is a post I can get behind. It really is a great idea and I’m glad a tag like this will be making the rounds. Hopefully it can help others too.
Had I known I would have tagged you as well, although I’m sure it will be coming your way soon, if it hasn’t already.
I was actually a little scared about tagging people on this. It seems like an intimate question somehow.
It’s all good. Being scared in this case is understandable. Some people don’t want to get that personal, but others do.
Here I am during my planning period at work and I’m crying. I’m so happy to know such beautiful people. Every time I read peoples reasons and it gives me so much hope. This was perfect timing, in class today we are having a talk with our students and reading this today gave me a nice shot of courage. I’m always hoping I chose the right words when I speak to them. Writing can be so much easier…
Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
Also your dog is so adorable 🙂
When in doubt: cute dog pics!
But without having ever met you – I’m pretty confident you will say the perfect thing.
Good post, good idea-
But that one picture though…
With all those anime characters-
Link, Meta Knight, and Aang! Best anime characters!
Smash bros best animu of 2018 confirmed!
See – everyone can find their own little something…
…it has just occurred to me that in all of my years with the name “MagicConan14” (turns out I’ve had it for about 6 years), this is the first time I’ve been referred to as simply “Magic”. Most people go “Conan” or ask for an alternative name.
That strange fact aside, thank you for the nomination and thank you for sharing your reasons.
I can’t wait to hear your reasons and that is really weird…Magic seems like the perfect fit to me
When nominating me has become a duh.
I can probably give a few reasons as to why for that alone. Hah!
I think you share many of those reasons with like 90 percent of all introverts in the world lol
I’m thinking weeks of meidtation and spiritual cleansing will have probably given you a unique perspective. Please share it with us, poor clueless masses…
I think this kind of post is the exact thing I need to write right now. I’m stressed and depressed and just overall exhausted, and it’s really hard for me to keep going for these next few days. I’m nearing the end of my semester and it’s been hard to get through the end. This kind of reflection will likely be relaxing to me. Thank you for nominating me, and thank you for sharing your thoughts with all of us! I’ll most likely post mine later today or tomorrow.
Oh wow! That’s great! I’m lucky I managed such great timing and I can’t wait to see what you have to say.
Thank you for the nomination! I think this tag is a beautiful thing and can really help to look at your life in a more positive way and see things that you might take for granted! I look forward to contributing my part to this amazing tag! 😀
I bet look forward even more to reading it. I greedily picked people whose posts I knew I would enjoy!
Yeah it’s always great to read others take on these tags! Aww I feel honoured that you picked me in that then 🙈
Wow! Thanks for nominating me Irina 🙂
This award is indeed a wonderful idea. I’ll definitely make an entry.
Ooohohohoho…
I knew I could count on you. You have written some really lovely introspective posts so I figured you would be perfect for this!
This is great stuff, and revealed to me that I was not, in fact, following Kimchi for some reason. I have now rectified this!
It’s good to hear the reasons why people keep hanging on even if times are tough. It’s important to share these experiences, and one of the best things about the information age in which we live is that people are a lot more willing to do that in writing than they are in person.
This whole scenario reminds me of something I wrote a while back which, if you’ll pardon the self-promotion, I’ll share here. It’s about how my hobbies helped me hold on during the bleakest years of my life — a time when I found myself asking serious questions about whether or not the world really needed me in it. https://moegamer.net/2017/07/20/how-video-games-might-have-saved-my-life/
Wow, that’s a great idea for a post – thanks for sharing it! (And you’re welcome for the reminder to follow Kimchi!)
What a beautiful post and what a tremendous idea, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the minor (and major) things that make our lives so important even if faced with tremendous adversity. Thanks for nominating me, Irina, I look forward to contributing to this wonderful tag.
We all look forward to reading it. It’s so nice to spread a little positivity now and then
Kimchisama really did create something amazing.thanks for sharing your reasons, Thank you for passing it my way.
Can’t wait to read yours!