[A Sip of Books] If You Do Your Best, You Die

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly reach the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

This is a correspondence between writer Hwang Seon-woo, who hosts the podcast "Two Women Are Talking," and writer Kim Hon-bi, known for essays such as "Elegant and Bold Women’s Soccer" and "Anyway, Alcohol." The theme is burnout and overwork. It records a difficult night when, despite being exhausted and subjected to rudeness all day, the fatigue was so overwhelming that sleep was impossible; it shares stories of days when everyday words kept slipping away, causing suspicion of forgetfulness and a desperate search through the mind. Ultimately, it reveals the path to recovery from burnout through kindness and friendship.

My friends noticed signs of burnout in me since last winter and warned me, but I didn’t realize it and kept burning out repeatedly until this summer when I finally “burned out” completely and collapsed, and then I accepted it. Yes, it was burnout. From the time it started taking ten days to finish what should have taken three days, it was already burnout. Why was it so hard to accept? (...) Burnout itself is a problem, but I realized the biggest issue is that burnout completely steals work efficiency, so once you get caught up in something, it never ends, and you lose even the time to relax or play freely. Burnout even burns down the bridge connecting me to rest. - Kim Hon-bi, from “Days of Burning Out” (pp. 62?63)

There was a time when I didn’t even have the strength to stand while washing, so I would sit quietly in the bathtub to shower. When I felt even weaker, I would lie down under the water. After lying there like wet seaweed and regaining some composure, I would get out of the tub and find a little energy to dry myself. A month or two later, I found myself standing normally from the start to the end of a shower, and only then did I realize, “Ah, I was a bit strange back then. I was not a person but seaweed.” Whether it was physical exhaustion, social fatigue, or lack of concentration, I was running on empty but kept pushing through. People like me don’t know how to stop, so we just keep going. - Hwang Seon-woo, from “How to Get Through the Wet Seaweed Days” (p. 70)

Kindness might be about caring more than necessary for others. Like when Hon-bi checks the complexion of a person standing in front of the subway and that person shouts to wake her up. (...) Even during the times we don’t exchange letters, I firmly believe Hon-bi is still living in such places. - Hwang Seon-woo, from “Two Alpine Anemones” (p. 197)

Have I come about halfway through recovery? (...) The power of the letters, always filled with Seon-woo’s strength that pushes me to go out and play every month and Seon-woo’s composed way of managing life in any situation, was immense. (...) Thank you for being a reliable season in my life. - Kim Hon-bi, from “Summer, Let’s Go Out and Play” (pp. 206?207)

Doing Your Best Will Kill You | Written by Hwang Seon-woo & Kim Hon-bi | Munhakdongne | 220 pages | 15,000 KRW