English translation · Reader alias: TinglanRead the Chinese original ↗
Echo correspondenceNO. 14
To / For Airing
From Tinglan
How can writing help me recognize myself again?
Reader alias · Tinglan
NO. 14Letter
Tinglan to Airing
The date of this individual message was not recorded; its correspondence record is dated 2025-04-17.
Hi, I am 〔Tinglan〕. I happened to come across your annual review, “2024, Farewell to Midsummer.” Reading it closely, I felt a strong sense of recognition, so I wanted to send you this informal message as an ordinary reader.
For various reasons, I too began using words to record my emotions and state of mind this year. Only after developing this habit did I realize that however hard we try to find value and meaning in the present moment, it is like walking through yellow sand: we cannot see, and receive no clear response. People really do begin to understand themselves when they look back. I am grateful for writing: it is a good tool for repeatedly getting to know myself. And I am grateful for your writing, which gives me a calm kind of strength. Sweeping emotions may attract attention, but calm strength is the best state in which to face a thunderclap or receive congratulations.
I also shared the article with friends. Our lives have felt rather robotic lately, and I thought your article and your words might stir their numb hearts and restore a little enthusiasm for life.
By the way, I use a diary app to keep these records and recommend it to you too. I wonder whether it resembles the project you are making. As a way of recording moods, it has genuinely eased some of the anxiety and unease that have spilled out of me.
NO. 14Reply
Airing to Tinglan
The date of this individual message was not recorded; its correspondence record is dated 2025-04-17.
Thank you so much! Since life got busy over the past two months, I have not written a monthly post in a while. I will find time to catch up soon. Writing at regular intervals, stepping outside everyday life to look at it objectively and calmly, and reflecting on the experiences of the past stretch of time can help you correct your course and your state of mind.
I do know EMMO. Whatever tool you use—even paper and a pen—consciously recording and expressing yourself will have an effect.
NO. 14Follow-up letter
Tinglan to Airing
The date of this individual message was not recorded; its correspondence record is dated 2025-04-17.
Great! Though I am not a long-standing fan. I have only just started reading your public account, haha, but I may start with “Farewell to Midsummer.” Your inner self seems so stable and strong that you feel far removed from an ordinary person. Yet your words and the things you record are so real that you also seem like a hardworking example right beside us, like the top student we knew as children. I will keep learning from you, even if all I learn is to record life in words. [Wangchai emoji]
Get some rest, and take care of yourself. Keep doing brave things and setting out without fear!