I like soccer.

The Nike x Liverpool apparel I bought last year is my latest favorite.

I stopped by a shop wearing that sweatshirt,

I was suddenly called out by a beautiful store clerk who looked about my age.

"Are you a Liverpool fan?" "I'm a Luis Diaz fan."

...Luis Diaz.

Recently, due to the rising cost of DAZN membership, raising my children (a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter) and being busy with work,

I hadn't been watching international soccer for a long time. To be honest, I didn't even know about it.

However, seeing the excitement of the store clerk, I pretended to know something.

I replied, "Yeah, he's a good player."

Following that, I was asked, "Did you go to the match at Nissan Stadium when they came to Japan recently?"

"Oh, I couldn't go," he replied.

In fact, I hadn't been there. At that moment, I felt a slight tingling sensation in the depths of my chest.

Even though I say I love it, I haven't been able to properly engage with the things I love lately.

Even though she says she likes it, does she seem to be less familiar with current international soccer than the female store clerks of the same age as her?

 
Thinking back to when I was in my teens and twenties, I used to rub my eyes to watch late-night games in real time.

I was awake and on my days off I would go to the stadium to watch games.

Even after I graduated from university and retired from competitive sports, I still participated in futsal tournaments with my friends.

Even if it's not soccer, the darkness of a movie theater, the excitement of a live concert,

I feel like I've had fewer opportunities recently to feel that "raw warmth of experience."

My favorite soccer player, the late Naoki Matsuda, once said in an interview,

“I always have Oasis before a match. I never miss it.

I remember him saying, "Oasis really motivates me."

I was heavily influenced by this band and it was a youthful band that I listened to since my teens.

I ended up not being able to go to their recent Japanese performance either, but I did feel a bit regretful, thinking, "I wish I could have seen it live after all."

When you're busy with work and raising children, you tend to be more satisfied with the information on your smartphone than with real-life experiences.

It makes you feel like you know more and is efficient, but it's still not the same.

Looking back, I decided to enter this industry because I wanted to move people's hearts.

Did I ever say something like that in my job application or interview?

That's why I have to keep my heart moving too.

Thank you, store clerk. I'll make arrangements and go see the game properly next time. In real life.