As I repeatedly write Hiragana characters, I notice that some are much easier to remember than others.

When I look at the Hiragana chart in my Japanese workbook, I don’t yet see any logic in how the characters are written.

Each one seems unique.

Some even look so similar that I struggle to tell them apart.

Perhaps that’s simply my older brain.

Or perhaps this is just what learning a completely different writing system feels like.

Either way, the struggle is real.

And I haven’t even started Katakana or Kanji yet.

For most things I’ve learned in my life, I eventually began to see patterns.

Once I understood the underlying logic, everything became easier.

Learning Hiragana feels different.

At least for now.

There doesn’t seem to be a shortcut.

No clever trick.

No hidden pattern that suddenly makes everything click.

All I can do is write the same characters over and over again until my brain no longer has to think about them.

Only then, I suspect, will I begin to see what is currently invisible to me.

Perhaps the logic isn’t missing at all.

Perhaps I simply haven’t reached the point where I can recognize it.

Until then, all I can do is trust the process.

One character at a time.