It was two months ago. I got home at midnight coming back from my work by a second-to-the-last train. That train was no stranger to me those few weeks. I was so tired because of long overwork and heavy pressure for an upcoming project which didn’t look promising.

I checked a mailbox and found a letter for me. “Osaka Advertising Agencies Association”, sender’s name read. I remembered I have sent an essay to this local competition last year. It seemed my essay didn’t win, I assumed from the thinness of the envelope. I opened the letter apathetically – and found that my assumption was wrong.

People say “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. I would say “Don’t judge a letter by its envelope”.

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Today I attended the ceremony and the reception for the 10th Advertising Essay Award held in Nakanoshima, Osaka. It was such an honour to be awarded together with other talented people. (And it was such a reward to be treated with a gorgeous buffet lunch!)

The theme of the competition was “Unforgettable Advertisement”. I wrote an essay about a poster I saw 5 years ago in New York. My story is about being defeated and being resilient. I wrote the original text in Japanese, and I translated it into English for this blog.

Since my essay is about living to the fullest, this prize is a huge encouragement for my current situation. I feel like I was given a pep talk by my younger self not to forget who I really am and what kind of life I really want to live.