It was a hot day. Thinking about heat that will intensify from now, I find myself becoming more mindful to keep both body and mind in good condition and live each day with sincerity. Since last year, to help myself through the hot summer, I begin each morning by brewing “Tamashii" (soul) coffee roasted by Master Idaki Shin and enjoying it iced. Its flawless deliciousness kindles light in the bottom of my stomach, which then fills my entire body and gives rise to inexhaustible strength. Gradually that strength permeates me completely, awakening an impulse to move outward. Remembering how this carried me through last summer, I wished to do the same this year, and again I prepared iced “Tamashii” coffee today.
I'm now putting into practice moving according to where my life and my wishes take me. Wondering where life itself would lead me today, I first attended to tasks already set before me. When I resolve to live according to where life is headed, my heart sparkles, and I enjoy anything I do. This brings me joy. When delighted and joyful, I forget about the heat and continue moving forward, which fills me with gratitude. Day and night, my thoughts are now devoted to filling every seat at Master Idaki Shin’s concerts. I even dream about it. Last night, I dreamt of filling each seat in the concert hall one by one, as though laying the stone walls of Wunu Mountain Fortress. Even after two thousand years, those walls still exist unbroken. I sense the souls of the Koguryo people, who built stone walls that withstood earthquakes and every upheaval of nature. In our own time, by filling each seat of the concert hall as if laying those stones, we can build the very foundation of a nation—a nation that will never perish. When I realize that we are laying the foundation for nation-building where human life shines and lives eternally, gratitude and joy well up from within, and life itself surges with vitality. I will keep moving every day according to my wishes and according to life itself. Thank you very much.