Dear Sakura,
When we went to the shrine for New Year’s around two weeks ago, Mommy told us that our Yakudoshi is coming up. According to traditional Japanese beliefs, there are three unlucky ages in every person’s lifetime called Yakudoshi. For us, the ages are 19, 33, and 37. The years surrounding those ages aren’t safe either; advice warns us to only make careful changes and to visit the shrine for special ceremonies during the years before and after. This means three years of our university experience should be spent making good decisions. Mommy said that she thinks it starts at 19 because in the past, 19 was around the age when women would get married and have kids (hence, a fluctuating, unlucky year) and God knows we are (hopefully) not about to start popping out children. So now we have an Omamori (Japanese good luck charm) in our bag at all times, protecting us from bad luck, marriage, and babies. Just kidding. The charm we got this year is dedicated to happiness and it’s a small pink heart-shaped silk pouch, tied to the inside zipper of that tote bag an Etsy seller scammed us on. Very joyful indeed.
In four years we will finally be past our unlucky years and entering a new time of change, though just thinking of future jobs or college majors sends us into a spiral now. It’s scary imagining ourselves in four years. Not just because of big life changes—though maybe the lack thereof would somehow be worse—but because everytime we look back at old pictures of ourself, we die a little inside at how we dressed and acted. Does that disgust with our past self ever end? Maybe this time we can be proud of the current us. This isn’t to say there aren’t perks to growing up, though. I think the best part of getting older is realizing that you can just do a lot of the things that you once thought were cool. Not having to ask permission before buying or doing things is, so far, the best gift of age.
So, by the time this letter is for you, we will be 21 going on 22. There are all the generic questions that I’m obviously curious about, like my love life, friends, family, etc. But those big things are easier to keep track of. When we look back on the past, we’ve always been shocked by how little we remember; the main way that we remember events from four years ago is through the diary we’d written in all of freshman and sophomore year. That’s why one of our resolutions is to start journaling again. It’s nice to reminisce and laugh at petty dramas we’d forgotten about. You should look back on this year with that same sense of humour and I hope you love the life you’ve created for me, even through our unlucky years.
Love,
Sakura
