[Daily 1000 Characters] Writer's Routine <5> - Choi Ji-eun's 'Save As Another Name'

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for the 'Harumanbo Harucheonja' 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 from Choi Ji-eun's ＜Saving Under a Different Name＞ in the book ＜Writer's Routine: A Day of Writing Poetry＞, which contains the daily lives and mindsets of young writers preparing to write. Character count: 925.

Mourning is not about completely forgetting and sending away the object of loss. I believe mourning is about leaving what has disappeared as it is, continuously feeling the changes, and moving forward into a new world again. So, it seems endless. I imagine the new world that can be gained through loss, and the heart of a person who embraces and moves forward despite sometimes knowing fear and darkness. I imagine that I hope to be such a person tomorrow. I think that what makes us think about tomorrow, look forward to it, and dream is love.

As the time I spend contemplating 'myself' and meeting myself increases, I have become able to imagine 'a world without me.' The feeling of 'thinking of you as I think of myself' gradually changed into 'thinking of you who is not me.' I also reconsidered how I used to talk about empathy for strangers and their pain as if I somewhat understood it. Returning what belongs to them fully to them, leaving it in its place, and respecting it as it is?writing poetry made me reflect on this mindset.

Even regarding my father's death, I think of his things as his own. I think of the courage to see mine as mine anew. This is different from feeling pain and sadness. I must think about what I have to do. Above all, I realize that humans cannot be fixed or solidified by labeling. We are beings who continuously change and waver. I want to write about these things. With as pure a heart as possible. While saving familiar sadness under a different name, giving it another name, I hope to keep recording my ever-changing self.

Therefore, we must take care of the heart that cares for physical strength. There may be no particular day that is good for writing poetry, but the difficult moments to write poetry are when the body is sick. When the body is sick, nothing can be done. I believe the body and mind are one.

- Choi Ji-eun and 6 others, ＜Writer's Routine: A Day of Writing Poetry＞, &(And), 15,000 KRW