to ateez: good afternoon! i hope you could all have restful sleep. it looks like a fairly hot day, with rain and stormy weather, so i'm wishing all of you safest travels and best health as you take care of all schedules. with how busy all of you are, it can be difficult to enjoy the nicer weather and pretty scenery, so while i can't bring you the ocean, as i've never been, i thought it might be nice to show you a bit of my cherished place by the lake. this was at sunset, back in 2017. isn't it beautiful? every sunrise and sunset has its own painting, never before seen and never seen again; it's one of my favourite things to photograph whenever i've been there. when i was little ari, i would walk down to the shoreline and sit on the big rocks there and just close my eyes and listen to the stories in the wind and the waves. i used to wonder what it would be like to stand by the ocean; to smell the salted air, to hear the depth of the waves, to feel the energy of that immense presence. i would think about tide pools, the little friends that live there in their tiny kingdoms. what would it be like to make friends with the crabs, mirroring their cute scuttling dances across the sand. the gulls have always been my friends, though; it's not good to feed them, but little ari didn't know better. i'd toss scraps of food up into the air as high as i could, and then feel a rush of delight when one would catch it in mid-flight. there are goose friends there too, ducks sometimes rarely. deer friends and squirrel friends and tiny chipmunk friends that like to explore around you. i sadly can't find the video for it, no matter where i've looked, and hope it's not one of the too many recordings lost over the years, but one time when i was sitting very still on the ground, a chipmunk that had been running around came up to me and actually climbed up to sit on my leg for a moment before calmly going on their way again. it's one of those magical kinds of moments that brightens the heart and makes you believe in the kindness of the universe. that's what i wanted to give all of you today; a bit of pure healing energy from my happiest childhood memories. as you continue through your day, may each and all of you be wrapped in kind energy with loving care. sending you all of my love and all of my light, healing and protecting energy, and wishing the very, very best for you in all that you do. cheering for you so much! fighting!!! i'm really looking forward to hearing all of your gorgeous voices on the album, to listening to the lyrics you've woven from your hearts. i look forward to learning about all that you've been preparing for your stages on tour and everything else you've dedicated so much love and time to create. take care well, you've got this! i love all of you so very much always. 💚🎶🕊☀️🌕🌟✨️🍀☘️🌻🫂🍵 -ari #ateez #에이티즈 #hongjoong #홍중 #seonghwa #성화 #yunho #윤호 #yeosang #여상 #san #산 #mingi #민기 #wooyoung #우영 #jongho #종호 #ariatiny #larknotes