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It’s undeniably the end of the year.

But I was thinking as I looked back on this year.

I’ve never before experienced feelings of thanks as sincere and deep as now. This year was so great it brought tears to my eyes.

It’s tough to express this huge emotion, and when I ask myself what I’m thankful for, the answer is probably everything.

I’m thankful for you as you read this, for my staff, fellow castmembers, musicians, friends, family, and everyone I’ve ever come into contact with. And for myself.
I’m not disguising my true feelings when I say that I’m overflowing with feelings of gratitude so much that I want to shout from the bottom of my heart. These feelings bring an inescapable happiness.

While I’m not necessarily denying the workings of God, Buddha, or some other great force I know even less about, right now I’m filled with a love and trust of things closer to me.

By no means can I say that the paths I have taken thus far have all been correct, but the present is so great I can look past even this. Those times when I made mistakes and suffered injuries and sprains were the times when I first discovered many valuable things.

For a very long time I’ve been seeking something. Or I’ve been pressing for an answer. Running into things left and right, sometimes weeping, sometimes marveling, following a road where I’ve leaned on all sorts of people for strength. Days when I’ve been alone, unable to share with anyone this loneliness I bear, yet trying to connect people as I live. Time spent in a daze, wondering how far I have to go or how I’m going to get there.

This year was full of happenings that let me see those times weren’t all worthless. Things like producing music and losing myself in the fun of stringing together words, or the fact that it became a little easier to let myself go, or the friendships quietly cultivated with people who are like my other half.

Though I’m in the middle of an endless journey, and though I still have many hills ahead of me, the scenery I see before me in this moment is amazing. This year proved that every hardship always turns to blessing in the future. So I’m firmly set on overcoming whatever hill or storm may come so I can what landscape lies beyond.

Now for next year, as thanks for being given such happiness, I have a lot of favors to repay.

I’m sure there are still many things I can do. Both as the professional Maaya Sakamoto and as the everyday Maaya Sakamoto.

How is it that unadorned feelings of gratitude turn into such intense energy? It’s tremendously powerful. Both delightful and fun.

With that, thank you all for this year.

Best wishes for the new year.

maaya