I guess it’s harder to keep things going when I’m not around. Nina has been quite busy lately, and my livestream hasn’t been working very well either. I also haven’t updated the reviews for the past two weeks. Time passes so quickly—sometimes weeks go by before we even notice.

I’ve been trying to keep my routine and momentum while traveling, but it’s honestly difficult to settle my mind when everything around me keeps changing. One thing I’m glad about is that I still managed to document something for each week of Fallina reading event.

Reading alone, without Nina to talk to, feels a bit lonely. Without those conversations, it’s harder to connect deeply with each week’s theme.

When Gatsby Meets Daisy

I just finished Chapter 5, where Gatsby and Daisy finally meet. I don’t know… they seem happy, at least on the surface.

When I was younger, I used to believe in this kind of romance. I imagined that if someone truly loved you, you could let them go—and after years, they would come back to you, somehow better, somehow more certain.

But in reality, no one I let go has ever come back. And to be honest, I don’t think I’d want them to. I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone that deeply either.

Memory, Longing, and What We Keep

This week’s theme is memory and longing—how the past shapes the way we feel in the present.

I still remember that moment when Gatsby looks at Daisy. It’s described as the kind of look that every girl, at some point in her life, wishes to receive. There’s something so pure and powerful in that kind of attention. Maybe the most beautiful romances happen when we’re young and a little naive.

But it also makes me wonder—if people meet again after years, is it really better to try again? Or is it better to leave everything as it was, safely kept in memory?

I don’t know.

It’s human nature to want to relive beautiful moments, to hold onto the feeling of being loved by someone like Gatsby loves Daisy. But would anything truly be the same if they met again?

I think being loved, even once, is already something precious. It stays with you and helps you through difficult times later in life. But love changes. People change. We can’t expect things to remain the same as we grow.

I remember going back to some of my past relationships, only to realize that it might have been better to keep those memories untouched. Sometimes revisiting them risks damaging what once felt beautiful.

We are, in a way, made up of those memories. And maybe being loved, even briefly, is already enough. Wanting to be loved forever by the same person—that’s something much harder. What do you think?

I hope one day you’ll read with us in Fallina, and maybe we can talk about these thoughts in person.

Get a copy of yours and read along: