When the World Started Talking Back

Out of nowhere, let me start with this.

When I look at where my Instagram followers are from, the United States is by far the biggest.

After that comes Japan, then the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, and India.

This is just the top ten.

On paper, it is only data.

But when I stop and think about it, it feels strange.

Somewhere in Japan, I talk to my phone. And somehow, my voice reaches America. It reaches Europe. It reaches Asia. It reaches Australia.

People whose faces I do not know, whose names I may never know, are listening to me talk.

They leave comments. They tell me about their countries. They share their memories of Japan. Sometimes, in response to something small I said, they give me a little piece of their own life.

I thought I was talking to the world.

But at some point, the world started talking back.

Last month, my Instagram account passed 10,000 followers.

Since I am posting on social media, of course I want people to see my work. Of course I am happy when people follow me. So yes, 10,000 was a number I had been thinking about for a while.

But when I actually reached it, it did not change as much as I thought it would.

I saw the number go up. I got the notification. I thought, oh, I passed it.

I was happy. Of course I was.

But strangely, what I remembered more clearly was the moment I reached 100 followers.

After I quit my job as a teacher, I decided to start posting on social media. That was when I made my Instagram account.

At that time, I already knew I was going to Ireland. So I thought, if I am going abroad anyway, maybe I should do something with English.

It would be good practice. Maybe I could make friends. Maybe it would be interesting to interview foreigners visiting Japan in English.

So I started making interview videos.

Some people who have followed me from the very beginning may still remember this. In the early days, I used to interview foreign visitors and post those videos.

I started from zero.

I filmed, edited, and posted. Again and again. And almost nothing happened.

My followers barely grew.

I still remember how happy I was when I reached 100. It felt like it had taken forever.

Even after I went to Ireland, I kept doing interviews.

And honestly, the people I met were wonderful. Some of them shared stories I never could have reached on my own. Some of them listened patiently to me, even though my English was far from perfect.

In my life, those moments are treasures. Views and numbers do not change that. Talking to people was fun. I could feel my world getting a little bigger each time.

But as social media, it was not really working.

My English was not strong enough. My direction was not clear enough. The people I interviewed were kind and generous with their time, but I could not make those videos reach anyone.

And that bothered me. I felt like I was not giving enough back to the people who had stopped to talk with me.

Maybe they did not care at all. Maybe I was overthinking it. But something in me felt uneasy.

If I kept asking other people to speak, what was I actually trying to say?

At some point, I decided to change how I used social media.

I archived all of the interview videos.

And instead of asking other people to speak, I decided to speak for myself. My thoughts. My feelings. Japan. English. What I noticed after going abroad. My own life. I wanted to say those things in my own voice, straight into the camera.

Looking back, maybe I should have done that from the start.

I told myself I chose interviews because they sounded fun. I wanted to talk to people. I wanted to use English. All of that was true.

But there was something else.

Maybe asking other people to speak was also a way of hiding a little.

I said I wanted to start social media. But instead of standing in front of the camera myself, I immediately pulled someone else into the frame.

Facing the camera, showing my face, speaking with my own words. I think I was afraid of that. I was embarrassed. I was nervous. I did not know what to say, and I did not trust my English.

But I reset everything and changed my style. I started speaking alone. And I decided to keep going.

If I had not posted in English, I do not think people from all over the world would have found me like this.

Not because my English is perfect. It is not. I still do not feel fully confident in it.

But because I used English, my words reached places they never could have reached otherwise. I met people I never could have met otherwise. There are people who would never have found me if I had only spoken in Japanese.

So now, I do not just think, I am glad I studied English.

I think, I am glad I tried using it.

In Japan, it is not always easy to stay motivated to study English.

People understand the benefits. It might help their future, their work, their travel. But knowing the benefits is not always enough.

You need the other moments. When you understand something you could not understand before. When you connect with someone and think, oh, this is actually fun.

For me, Instagram became the place that gave me those moments.

At first, it was English practice. Now, it is a way to talk to the world.

I started from zero. I kept posting, little by little. Now more than 10,000 people follow me.

I am not famous. I did not start with anything impressive. People found my posts, left comments, corrected my mistakes kindly. Sometimes one short sentence from a stranger made me want to keep going. And I was lucky with the people who found me. Without them, I do not think I would have lasted this long.

My next goal is 100,000.

But reaching 10,000 taught me something. A number does not change everything. Even after 10,000, I am still me. I still get lost. I still overthink. Right before I post, I still wonder, is this okay?

So I do not know how I will feel at 100,000. Maybe the version of me who gets there will know.

I will keep chasing numbers. If you post on social media, you have to. But I do not want to become someone who only chases them.

There are real people on the other side of the screen. I do not want to forget that.

I started talking to the world. At first, almost no one heard me. But little by little, the world started talking back.

From the United States. From Japan. From the United Kingdom. From Germany. From Italy. From France. From the Philippines. From Australia. From Canada. From India.

And it did not stop at ten.

Indonesia, Brazil, Spain, Taiwan, Switzerland, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Poland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Singapore, Romania, Malaysia, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, New Zealand, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Morocco, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Chile, Denmark, Hong Kong, Colombia, South Korea.

And so many other places I cannot list them all here.

Those voices helped shape who I am now.

Some days I feel like I am making progress. Other days I feel like I am starting over. That is true for my English, my content, and probably my life too. I still have no idea where all of this leads. I am just trying to keep moving.

So I will keep talking. And I will keep listening.

For now, that is enough.

As always, thank you for reading my long thoughts.