Not a Breakdown, but a Breakthrough in Shibuya, Tokyo.

I went to this lil taco spot—Tacofanatico—in Shibuya just to get some food.

While I was sitting there, I noticed this girl looking at me a couple times. She was on the other side of the bar—positioned right between me and my man.

I saw her, but didn’t think much of it. I’m in another country. People are curious. Whatever.

But before she left, she walked over to me…
And she said:

“I just wanted to tell you…
You're so beautiful.
Honestly, the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

I said, “Aww, thank you so much.”

She walked out.
And I immediately started crying.

Like—not a little eye-water. I mean full-on crying in the middle of a taco spot in Tokyo.

I don’t know what about that moment hit so hard.
Maybe it was the way she said it.
Maybe it was that I wasn’t expecting it.
Maybe it was the fact that deep down… I’m still trying to believe it for myself.

It’s not that I’m out here looking for people to tell me who I am.
I don’t need constant praise or attention.
But I’d be lying if I said I don’t still have days where I don’t fully see myself.

The truth is—I’m not seeking validation from the outside.
I just want more of it from me.

The only validation I crave now is internal.
I want to feel it in silence.
I want to know it in sweatpants.
I want to believe it on the days I don’t hear it from anyone else.

Shout out to that girl—whoever you are—for unlocking something in me.
You have no idea how much you made my day.

Still processing, but here’s what I know:

Healing doesn’t always happen on a timeline.

Sometimes it shows up in unexpected places—

like a taco spot in Shibuya

—

when a stranger sees something in you that you’ve been trying to see in yourself.

And maybe moments like that aren’t breakdowns. Maybe they’re breakthroughs.