[Thousand Characters a Day] Park Sumil's Classic Transcription: "Solitude and Self-Contentment"

Published 12 Jan.2023 06:00(KST)

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides a daily thousand-character transcription content for subscribers of the "Ten Thousand Steps, Thousand Characters a Day" newsletter. The transcription content is carefully selected from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, renowned columns, and famous speeches, and is organized by daily and monthly themes. Today, we explore the wisdom of people from the past who calmly accepted the transience of time and the solitude of life, as featured in Professor Park Sumil's book . The text contains 710 characters.

Life is lonely. When a once-good relationship sours due to a misunderstanding, or when the overwhelming sense that no one will reach out to you sets in, life can feel truly lonely. Sometimes, even with loved ones by your side, loneliness persists. In , Kim Taejun wrote that even when his wife and child were beside him, thinking of a distant friend was a form of life's loneliness, and that finally meeting a long-missed friend only to find them bothersome was also part of life's loneliness. In this lonely world, we suffer from illness and are so busy trying to make a living that we cannot rest. How, then, can we live well in this lonely and difficult world?

Loneliness cannot be overcome. It can only be endured. Therefore, we must learn how to endure it well. People in the past cherished solitude and befriended themselves. They did not seek the approval of others or get swept up by the crowd; instead, they walked confidently and willingly alone. Consider the bat. The bat is neither a bird nor a beast. It is simply a bat. There is no need for it to join the flock of birds or the herd of animals. Being a bat is enough. This confidence is what protects us and helps us move forward.

Moreover, people in the past knew how to be content with themselves. Self-contentment is different from satisfaction. Satisfaction is a feeling that arises when certain conditions are met, whereas self-contentment is an attitude of affirming life regardless of the situation. If we are grateful and content with what we have, that is enough. Perhaps, simply by being born, we are already living a miraculous life.