[One Thousand Characters a Day] Making a Path and Walking in the Field of the Heart <3>

Editor's NoteLife changed drastically only after experiencing severe pain. I quit everything and just walked, and then things that had never been visible before began to appear. Newly seen flowers, grass, trees, sky, and clouds... Even after walking the same path for a week, a month, or a year, there was never the same path twice. I naturally found paths that were good for walking here and there. Along the way, the way I viewed the world and my attitude toward life gradually began to change, as the author confesses. Across the Field of the Heart, Making Paths and Walking is a writing by Sim Young-hee, Professor Emeritus at Hanyang University, who marvels at the mysteries and beauty of nature encountered while walking, adding fragments of life to her reflections. You can also enjoy a reading video on the YouTube channel (Joongmin Sesang, https://www.youtube.com/@joongmin_ibc). The text contains 1005 characters.

As October arrived, I found myself going to the Poplar Tree Path more often than to Seorae Island. This was to take photos against the backlight on the way back from a walk along the Poplar Tree Path. Previously, I would go to the Poplar Tree Path first, then return via the Grass Garden and head home, but now I start at the Grass Garden and then go to the Poplar Tree Path.

Walking out of the Grass Garden with the sun at my back, I enter the Poplar Tree Path after passing the cosmos flower path. Immediately, I am met with dazzling sunlight spreading above and below the river. Without realizing it, I exclaim, "Oh, oh!" The sun floating above the river has an overwhelming power. That power is an emotion beyond ecstasy and solemnity. All my senses come to a momentary halt.

After a brief moment when the intoxication of that emotion fades, I start taking photos frantically. Using the distant bridge as a background, I bisect the sky and the Han River, capturing the large sun in the sky and its reflection on the water, which alone becomes a magnificent work. Nowadays, even random shots turn out like a photo spread.

As time passes, the sun sets faster, and the colors in the photos turn redder. It looks as if the sky is burning. When I posted those photos in a group chat in real time, a friend said it felt like looking at a painting by the British landscape artist William Turner. I also once saw a Turner exhibition and was deeply impressed by his painting of a burning sunset over the sea.

The sunset shining through the poplar trees is as beautiful as the sunset over the river. I imitated Monet’s paintings and placed the sun between three or four poplar trees to take photos. This time, when I posted the photos in a group chat with female professors, they said it seemed like I had become a photographer while I was sick.

By mid-October, the sunset time grew earlier, and the sun began to set around 5:30 PM. The sun, hanging obliquely in the western sky, was setting faster and faster. I took photos here, quickly moved to the next spot to shoot, and hurried to the next location to take more pictures.

When I see such beautiful scenes and take photos of them, I completely forget that I am a sick person. That is what happiness is.

- Sim Young-hee, Across the Field of the Heart, Making Paths and Walking, Joongmin Publishing, 15,800 KRW