[Daily 1,000 Characters] Writer's Routine <4> - Lee Hyun-ho's 'For a Single Flowering Tree'

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters' newsletter readers. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, notable columns, and famous speeches. Today, we quote Lee Hyun-ho's "For a Single Flowering Tree" from the book The Writer's Routine: A Day of Writing Poetry, which captures the daily lives of young writers and their mindset for writing. Character count: 855.

Staying home all day, the window is my only connection to the outside world. The view it offers is consistent. Our home is on this floor, so if I stand up and rise on my tiptoes, I can see many earthly scenes, but from my desk chair, all I see is the upper half of one maple tree and two fir trees, and the sky stretching out behind them.

Every window is a landscape painting in itself. Unlike framed paintings, the picture set in the window frame moves and breathes. Not to mention the changes with seasons and weather, even throughout the day, the morning, noon, and evening views differ. It is now around noon on a late autumn day. I gaze at the deeply red maple tree and the fir trees shining even greener in contrast. In a couple of hours, clouds might drift behind those trees. A few hours later, the trees bathed in sunset hues will look beautiful. I like this familiar yet never identical scenery. When my eyes tire from staring at the monitor screen for too long, I lift my head and refresh my weary eyes with that landscape painting.

When did it turn so red? The maple tree standing against the cloudless blue sky feels especially striking today. The subtle difference in color between the leaves fully exposed to sunlight and those hidden among the foliage reminds me of an Impressionist painting style. Soon, I turn my gaze back from the window to the monitor. Though both the window and the monitor are similarly square-shaped, the mindset for viewing them is very different. The former is a time for relaxation and ventilation, the latter a time for tension and concentration.

I straighten my body, which had been slouched in the chair. Stretching my arms long above my head from where I sit, I take a deep breath. I gather my relaxed mind. Now it is time to write.

- Lee Hyun-ho, 6 people, The Writer's Routine: A Day of Writing Poetry, &(And), 15,000 KRW