Thank you very much to Alfonzo for continuing his monthly donation!
This is just a smaller bonus part as thanks for supporting me. There will still be a normal part this Sunday/Monday.
Enjoy!
If you don’t have time to read, everything below this is basically me just saying thank you for reading, commenting, and donating
I mentioned this before a couple years ago, but I was diagnosed with depression around the time I started having some other medical issues that were really screwing with my life. I thought I got over it but I was really just hiding from it. I avoided being alone as much as I could to avoid being left with only my thoughts. This worked to some extent for a while, but my new job has left me alone most of the time and it became very apparent to me that I had never got better.
So, I was sitting alone in a hotel room at 5 am. I had nowhere to be for about 7 hours and I hated the idea of getting out of bed. I also didn’t want to just sit there because that allowed my mind to wander which usually led to darker places. That’s when I started getting notifications about someone commenting on early chapters of Tanaka. This happens occasionally and a new reader will comment something on every chapter or just regularly as they read through the series. Now, reading people’s comments no matter if it’s about me or just the series has always made me feel good, but for some reason, these really hit me hard that morning.
When I was first put on meds for depression, there were only three things that really made me feel better: exercise, being productive, and helping people. For a long time now, I’ve felt that I’ve been losing interest in translating, but I’ve really been losing interest in everything I used to enjoy. For anyone familiar with depression themselves or through someone close to them, they’d know that this is a major sign of it.
I can’t say why I only just now thought of it this way, but those comments made me realize translating is a good way for me to get out of that dark place I can find myself in. I can be productive and I may not necessarily be helping people, but I can at least bring some enjoyment to you.
So, obviously, I have to say how grateful I am to anyone that has ever donated. It’s not required and there are other translators that give you more for doing it, yet people still do it and I’m very thankful to those that have and those that continue to do so. However, even if you can’t donate, commenting is more than enough.
Thank you.