This toolkit invites you to reflect on personal relationships and emotions. Some activities may bring up memories of sadness or loss. Please take your time, and pause whenever you need. Remember: you are not alone in these feelings, and your emotions are valid. If you ever feel overwhelmed, we encourage you to seek comfort from a trusted friend or professional support.

Light After Distance is a self-healing toolkit designed for young people (20–26) who experience emotional distance or disconnection in close friendships or romantic relationships. Instead of aiming to “repair” the relationship, it provides a safe, low-pressure, and personal way to process emotions after distance. Through four gentle micro-rituals, participants are guided to recall, reveal, repair, and release their emotions—helping them let go of sadness and move forward.

1. Recall – Looking back
In this stage, participants are invited to revisit the memories of their relationship. Through small prompts, hidden feelings begin to surface—like words once left unsaid, or emotions that never found a place. This step is about softly opening the box of the past, not to dwell, but to acknowledge.

2. Reveal – What lies beneath
Here, the “mask” becomes a metaphor. On its front, the emotions we show to the world; on its back, the vulnerable feelings we hide. By placing both sides together, participants can confront the quiet truth of their inner and outer selves. It is a tender moment of honesty—seeing what has been carried within.

3. Repair – Mending the broken
A broken mask is carefully stitched with yarn, or gently decorated with buttons—an act of symbolic repair. At the same time, a random comfort note is drawn, reminding participants that healing can also come from unexpected kindness. This stage does not “fix” the past, but it allows the heart to experience the possibility of being held together again.

4. Release – Letting go
Finally, participants write a message to themselves and choose which pieces to carry forward, and which to leave behind. This ritual marks a quiet farewell—an acceptance that some things end, yet what remains can be cherished. It is a step into the future, with a little more peace and clarity.

User Test & Iteration
I invited three participants to experience the toolkit in Reid Building. Their feedback was very insightful. They told me the toolkit helped them to recognize and release emotions, but also suggested improvements. For example, they hoped the comforting words could be categorized by theme, so I redesigned them with different paper colors. They also wished for a platform to share experiences, so I developed an online extension where users can upload masks, draw random comforting notes, and interact with others. These iterations made the project more inclusive and better aligned with users’ real needs.