[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Kim Kyung-il's 'Wisdom to Protect Love'

Editor's NoteAs most of us grow into adulthood, we tend to reduce our social relationships. Instead, we believe that the few people we encounter daily are good people and strive to meet their standards. However, in such relationships, it is easy for the life we desire, the goals we set, and the many efforts we make to turn into actions aimed at gaining admiration from others. Living according to others' perspectives rather than 'myself' inevitably leads to dissatisfaction. Professor Kim Kyung-il proposes "a life that admires oneself" as a way to free oneself from others' gaze and evaluation. He advises meeting various people, offering them small help, and using the gratitude received from them as a tool to admire oneself. If admiration toward oneself can lead to genuine self-satisfaction, we can finally take a step closer to the wisdom we earnestly seek within our hearts. Word count: 779 characters.

"Wow," "Oh dear," "Oh!", "Oh my!", "Huh?"

Interjections, which express the speaker's surprise or feelings, are generally very short words. Rather than connecting to the next sentence, they are uttered briefly and then vanish. Perhaps the choice of these words was to illustrate that admiration is inherently volatile? While some emotions linger in our hearts for a long time, admiration for others tends to fade more easily than expected. So, how should Korean society, which invests time, effort, money, and even risks its neck over fleeting admiration from others, deal with this? Once again, senior Kim Jung-woon’s answer is brilliant.

"Just admire yourself."

Exactly. If you replace others with yourself, the problem is simply solved. In Korean society, which values community, it has been difficult to act as if others' eyes do not exist. However, recently, this socio-cultural phenomenon has been rapidly changing. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to social distancing, the time necessarily spent with others has drastically decreased. Did you know that many people confess to feeling happiness in moments spent alone? They have come to find what makes them comfortable, what they like, and what brings them joy without worrying about anyone else's judgment. Those who have tried it know how wonderful it is. Finding what you truly like is much sweeter than fleeting admiration from others. As a result, people have gradually begun to feel that others' perspectives are not always that important.

- Kim Kyung-il, Wisdom of the Heart, Forest Books, 18,800 KRW