[One Thousand Characters a Day] Insight into Beauty 'Easy Beauty' <4>

Editor's NoteChloe has thought of 'easy beauty' as something eye-catching and comfortable. She considered it to bring simple and straightforward joy, like simple melodies, roses, the face of youth, or the body in its prime. Conversely, she believed that 'difficult beauty' requires time, patience, and more focus, depending on our education, our discernment, and endurance. However, one day, encouraged by a student who said, "Professor, you must experience the 'Beyonc? experience' at a Beyonc? concert," she flew to Milan to watch the performance, where she became one with many people and experienced 'direct and confident beauty.' She then reflected on her own confined life, having built a house called 'superiority' and stayed safely within it. Word count: 927 characters.

It was as if every molecule of her body was tuned to us at that moment, being with us. She gave herself only to us, and we gave ourselves to her. When she sang, we sang along in one voice. When she moved, we moved with her. We were one organism. We were a sea of people. When she went to the right, we went right. When she went left, we went left. When we couldn’t see her, we sighed in disappointment. When she came to the edge of the stage and got closer to us, we raised our arms toward her and stretched our bodies forward to get closer. When we waved our hands, she waved back in response. Everyone stood on their tiptoes, stretched out their arms, opened their hands, and longed to get closer to her. And among 80,000 people, I was the closest to her. For the next two hours, she truly showed us everything without holding back. She not only showed what the absoluteness of the present is but also made us enter the state of 'being here now.' For a moment, like her, we existed within the moment, not looking down from above it.

I looked out at the sea of people on the stage. Everyone had become one, experiencing direct and confident beauty. I recalled all the ways I had almost convinced myself to rationalize not having this experience. Until then, I had built a small house of pride using multiple layers of superiority, theories, and excuses, and stayed safely inside it. I was ashamed of my own weakness as a mere spectator. I was ashamed of myself for sitting in an open space, trying not to face harsh facts, complexities, and tense emotions. What else have I lost because of my defensive attitude?

- Chloe Cooper Jones, Easy Beauty, translated by An Jin-yi, Hankyoreh Publishing, 25,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.