Tyra Peralte thought keeping a diary during the pandemic (流行病) might help her sort out her messy feelings. In April 2020, the mother of two in Montclair, NewJersey, started writing frankly about the challenges of work, marriage and motherhood during a global crisis.

Peralte wanted to know how other women were doing. So she made an unusual offer. She invited women from near and far to fill the remaining lined pages of her black -and-white marbled composition notebook with their own pandemic tales. She named the project The Travelling Diary.

“I wanted an interaction that felt human,” Peralte says, “and it feels very human to read someone else’s writing.” She found her first contributor during a conference for entrepreneurs. When she mentioned the diary, a woman in North Carolina immediately said she would like to write in it.

From there, Peralte posted an article about her idea on Medium in an effort to get more women involved. So many wanted to participate that Peralte decided to create a website for people to add their names to the queue. She came up with a system: Each person gets to keep the diary for three days and fill as many pages as she wishes. Then she is responsible for mailing it to the next person, whose address Peralte provides. Each participant fills the pages with her own handwriting, and sometimes her own artwork, sharing her stories.

So far, more than 2,000 women from 30 countries have participated, some as far away as South Africa and Australia. Of course, not all those entries could fit in just one journal. More than 50 of these notebooks are currently in circulation (流通), and about 20 completed ones are back in Peralte’s possession, including the original diary with her first entry, about navigating pandemic life and reconnecting with family.

“It is beautiful to have it again and to read it,” she says. “I carry these stories with me on a daily basis.”

When she returned home that year, she was given an enthusiastic welcome in the same hall. Many hands stretched out to her, many cameras focused on her. A reporter in glasses kept pestering her with the question: “What do you like best?” She was wondering how to respond when she caught sight of a bunch of flowers. Then she said, “Flowers!” Following her remarks, more flowers were at once presented out to her, too many for her to hold. During the past two years, she had participated in many international competitions and brought back one shining medal after another. What she got in return was all smiles, flowers and camera flashes. Was it because of this that she became preoccupied with winning? The more she won, the more obsessed she was with the fear of losing. So her mind was in fact more burdened with success than with failure. The mind could control physical pains but could not free itself from mental strain easily.

This time when she was a little off balance on the horizontal bar (平衡木), she became so worried that she lost self-control and fell off. This failure was followed by several more in other events. Afterwards in order to avoid people at the airport, she trailed along behind the team. She found that very few people greeted her and reporters seemed to shun her. However hard she tried, she couldn’t turn the tide; she was a complete failure. Indeed, who would side with a failure?

All of a sudden, she saw a pair of shoes in front of her. Who could it be? She raised her bent head slowly and saw a navy blue suit, long legs, and then a clear fair face. Before her stood the stewardess with her hands behind her back, speaking with a smile, “I watched your performance on the television. I knew you would come home today. So I am here especially to welcome you.”

“I did very poorly.” She lowered her head again.

“No. You did your best.”

“But I failed.”

“Nobody can avoid failure. I believe failure is as important to you as success. Failure belongs to the past, and victory is the future.” The stewardess’s voice came gentle but firm.

Hearing these words, the girl raised her head. The stewardess held out her hands from behind her back with a big bouquet of colorful flowers, and presented it to the girl. The strong fragrance seemed to turn into a magic, powerful current that went through her body. She was moved to tears. Flowers are usually given to victorious heroes. Why to the disgraced loser?