"Paradise will always be written in the future tense."

A sequel five years after "I Want to Be a Strange and Free Grandmother"
A map of new stories unfolding by author Muru

“Whenever you cross the wall, a new landscape unfolds.”

An essay by picture book guide author Muru.
Author Muru, who spoke about the attitude of living on the edge of the world through picture books in her previous work, “I Want to Be a Strange and Free Grandmother,” has returned with a deeper and broader perspective.
Bringing stories full of strange and unfamiliar pieces.
The stories that Muruga loves sometimes put us at dead ends and in front of walls.
This book, "The Paradise We Don't Know," is a journey toward that dead end, a yearning gaze that seeks to discover the cracks in a world we don't yet know, facing a wall, and ultimately an attempt to invent a new path.
With the belief that at the end of it all, there will be a world where we, each with our own unique pieces, expand our edges one by one and become affectionate faces to one another.

Good stories create a subtle space on a mental level.
It shakes the human inertia that seeks to understand this world as a single, complete order.
The world is not a fixed entity, but a space that is constantly changing and opening up.
When you go over the wall, a new scenery always unfolds.
The story shows that a place you've never seen before can be a paradise for someone.

--- From the "Prologue"

We live in a world where each life has a different shape.
In a world where misunderstanding is closer than understanding and conflict is easier than harmony, when we try to draw a line between two points far apart, when we try to weave a wide net with those connected lines, the world's kindnesses gain strength.
So that we can support each other's different lives and share friendship.
So that we can believe that our differences will not tilt the world to one side.
--- From "Affectionate Salvation"

After reading the dedication, I kept thinking about the back of a person.
She was a woman writing a new sad day on a blank piece of paper.
Many stories are written in an attempt to salvage time that has passed.

--- From "Rewriting Sorrow"

In that place where we were complete strangers, we often shared intimate stories that we couldn't even share with those closest to us.
Childhood wounds, long-cherished dreams, ideals about life, and reasons for living all flowed into each other without warning.
It was a strange and mysterious thing that happened when we opened a book together.

--- From "If Washing Dishes Isn't Life"

If the type of life I want doesn't exist in this world yet, I have no choice but to create it myself.
Perhaps what I needed, long ago when I couldn't find the right word to describe my profession, was the mind of an inventor.
How to live alone without feeling lonely, how to create connections outside of conventions and institutions.
Because there was no one around me to teach me these things.
There are probably other people like me in the world.

--- From "The Invention of Joyful Friendship"

Coincidence often takes us beyond the boundaries of reality.
Therein lies the joy of unexpected collaboration, of encountering unfamiliar love, of exploring new possibilities, of witnessing beauty yet to be discovered.
There is an expectation that each truth will rub shoulders, shake, and awaken, an expectation that we will discover traces of stars in each other's faces.

--- From "Harmony of the Universe"

In this vast and uncertain world, different beings live together.
The boundaries of paradise can expand or contract.
Maybe it will disappear.
So we need a new story.
A strange story that will break down boundaries and explore new possibilities.
Everything that happens in the world always started in someone's imagination.
The stories yet to be written will save us.
Paradise will always be written in the future tense.

--- From "Paradise of Strange Things"

Some stories remind us that there was a time when we were fascinated by the mysterious and the wonderful.
Such stories always begin in places that are not on any map or in anyone's memory.
The only way to get there is to get lost.

--- From "The Joy of Getting Lost"

Adults who love picture books know that a story is always an invitation.
These are people who discover their own path in a world of stories that welcomes everyone.
They are people who believe that each person can find their own truth in things that are ambiguous and uncertain.

--- From "Welcoming Misunderstandings"

I want to see.
The faces of grandmothers who have survived for a long time and are still smiling.
Wrinkled hands that endure through times of frustration and trivial days, writing even at eighty, and drawing even at ninety.
Women who grow older and take care of their lives with their dreams, even if they sometimes stumble and fall back.
Towards the next generation, those who have proven that they can fight for themselves without harming or destroying themselves.

--- From "Living as a Female Creator"

Many things that shine within a person are created only during the time of waking alone.
Thinking like that somehow brings me comfort.
It makes me feel a little less lonely when I think that there are people out there every day who are creating their own stars.
It's encouraging to think that a person's most beautiful features are hidden not in the outer fabric of their coat, but in the lining.
It can help to somewhat overcome the impatience to reveal yourself to the world without giving it time to build up and mature.
You will gain the strength to gaze for a long time, listen intently, and fill yourself with silence.
In the end, I end up feeling a little sorry for everyone who misunderstands or is misunderstood.
It makes us imagine some beautiful things in the world that we will never know about.

--- From "What's Hidden in the Coat Lining"

Even after I send off my loved ones, I will still have time to live.
I will live that time well.
By showing myself more often in a way that I can like, and by being more affectionate to those I meet.
When you are faced with an unexpected visit from someone you don't know what form they will take, you won't be afraid or regretful. Instead, you will just take off your apron and say with a cheerful smile, "It's time to go now."

--- From "Beyond Death's Door"