[One Thousand Characters a Day] Author Jo Wonjae's 'Life Shines Through Art' <1>

Editor's NoteAre we truly living well? Everyone faces this question at least once. We build our resumes, get jobs, buy houses, and keep running endlessly through work. Then, when we suddenly look back, we feel like we have nothing left. We try to grow ourselves in various ways and seek control over our lives, but the more we do, the more empty and deprived we feel. We think, "Isn't this a decent life?" yet a vague doubt creeps into a corner of our minds. Author Jo Wonjae says that we can find meaning and direction in life through "art." Although he was neither an art major nor an expert, he quit his job to pursue what he loved as a profession. He was able to listen to his inner voice rather than others' opinions and evaluations. Escaping a life of inertia and living each moment feeling truly alive?all thanks to art. He shares the insights he gained by personally enjoying and experiencing art. Word count: 1060 characters.

Life is marked by repetition. Perhaps because of this, we naturally become accustomed to the inertia that regards repetitive things in daily life as meaningless. When we first experience something, it is undoubtedly very new, precious, and truly appreciated. But as days, months, years?1 year, 3 years, 10 years?repeat, the story changes. All those feelings of novelty, preciousness, and gratitude disappear somewhere. We become numb and unable to savor anything. Even though it is clearly in our lives and by our side, it effectively becomes nonexistent. What I see, who I meet, the actions I take, the work I do?all of it. Thus, we lose interest in everything we encounter in life and wither away.

(Omitted)

An artist stands before a vast canvas to place a dot. Unlike yesterday, today’s enormous canvas resembles a turquoise blue sea with gentle waves. The dot placed today will become a humpback whale released into that sea. The whale must be set at a mysterious spot that resonates with the ocean. Taking a clear breath in and out slowly, the artist carefully senses the state of their entire body. Today, the body feels as light as the wind, and the brush seems ready to fly wherever the heart leads. The brush is dipped into paint mixed slightly more densely but subtly. The presence of the paint is transmitted warmly through the brush to the wrist. Just before the brush meets the canvas, the artist pours all concentration into the one exquisite point where the humpback whale will dive. Slowly bending the waist toward the vanishing point where focus reaches, the artist becomes one with the brush and paint and plunges into the deep sea of the grand painting.

To some, every repetitive moment may seem no different. However, for the actor who realizes the uniqueness of each moment and awakens their senses, every moment approaches as entirely different and new. We stand before the lines and dots physically and pictorially left by the artist’s newly awakened and freshly sensed act. And the painting silently asks us: Our lives are destined to repeat. How do we look at that life, and how do we experience and live it?

－Jo Wonjae, Life Shines Through Art, Dasan Chodang, 18,800 KRW