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At seven years old in Shanghai, Luke Li learned that love was conditional on perfect performance. After a public humiliation involving torn calligraphy practice, he made a promise that would drive him across three continents: never again would he give someone the power to hang his shame where others could see it.
From Tokyo playgrounds where vending machines dispensed miracles to Canadian high schools where friendship felt temporary, from Seattle networking events where sophistication masked loneliness to academic titles that delivered recognition without satisfaction, Luke spent thirty-five years climbing mountains designed by others-always seeking the "Okaeri" (welcome home) that would finally prove he belonged.
But what happens when you achieve everything you thought would make you worthy of love, only to discover you're more isolated than ever? What happens when the seven-year-old you abandoned in shame is still waiting for someone to care about his experience more than his performance?
The Vending Machine Prophet is a memoir about the particular loneliness of never quite belonging anywhere, the sophisticated ways we perform worthiness while hiding our authentic selves, and the radical discovery that home isn't a place you earn-it's something you carry within and create with others brave enough to show up authentically.
Part cultural exploration, part entrepreneurial journey, part spiritual excavation, this is ultimately a story about reparenting yourself, unlocking the grief that makes joy possible, and learning that the prophet's gift isn't being special-it's using your outsider perspective to help others find their way home.
