[Book Sip] Living True to Myself... "But Everyone Seems to Be Lost Without Themselves"

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly reach the reader's heart and create a connection with the book. Here, we introduce such meaningful sentences selected from books.

This is a book by Ryo, who founded sensuous space brands such as 'London Bagel Museum,' 'Artist Bakery,' cafe 'High West,' and 'Layered,' turning them into destinations sought after by 'bread pilgrimage travelers' nationwide. The spaces he creates are characterized not by artificial concepts, but by landscapes imbued with accumulated emotions. He hopes that the spaces he creates will function not merely as brands, but as lasting sensations and memories. The book quietly yet firmly introduces the multilayered times and emotions he has experienced.

Perhaps the time when I was able to grow the most was when I was at my weakest and most fearful, like a small bird drenched in the rain. When my thoughts changed a dozen times and I was paralyzed by nameless fears, when I was constantly out of breath and knew I had no map to hold onto, yet wiped away tears with my sleeve and took a single step of courage in a pitch-dark alley?every beginning started at that very moment. Not during the times when I stood strong and firm, claiming to have 'figured it all out,' lacking nothing, needing nothing, standing there obliviously and endlessly bored. <Page 82>

I know the moist light of the morning, I know you sing when you're not feeling well, I know the peace of steaming coffee, I know the thinness and warmth of a dog's ear, I know the color of your chest as you hold back, I know the prism and the aesthetics of reflection in the world, I know us scattering in laughter after seeing something beautiful, I know the finiteness of time. Even if I train myself daily in sorrow, it doesn't mean I don't feel regret. One never truly gets used to longing. No matter how much beauty and sadness I come to know in this world, in the end, it doesn't mean I am without regret. <Page 116>

Happiness does not come from pursuing a perfection that makes us the same, but begins by recognizing that even if being different feels like imperfection, it does not carry a negative meaning. Rather than feeling anxious because we cannot become the same or understand each other, true understanding begins when we acknowledge that we are perfectly different. <Page 203>

The everyday scenes that catch my eye feel like signs from God. There is nothing forced or contrived?just the kindest delivery right before my eyes. The daily beauty, cuteness, celebration, and gratitude that appear without fail. <Page 114>

Just as every day is different, the phenomena that unfold each day are also diverse. It is perhaps natural that there is nothing easy, that everything is awkward and difficult.
Still, do not forget that these are times spent searching for the path to a beautiful ending. <Page 115>

Even thoughts, in truth, require effort. <Page 179>

A thought that came to me out of nowhere while choosing what to wear: Perhaps true infidelity is not loving oneself while striving to gain the love of others. <Page 182>

Sentences I forget and reaffirm every day.

"I must love everything that passes by,"

"Saving others first is the only way to save myself." <Page 196>

Everything is infinite, yet finite. Myself, my home, beautiful objects, even the people I love?life is simply the accumulation of borrowed time. <Page 205>

Why is it so difficult to be born as oneself and live as oneself? Living true to oneself should be the easiest and most fun, yet everyone seems to be lost without themselves. <Page 254>

If the journey of each of us discovering what is truly precious to ourselves, to us, and to everyone is called 'life,' then I resolve that it will continue to be endlessly interesting, sincere, and witty, and that I will keep walking with my own perspective and tempo, not swayed by the world's direction and speed. That was my vow for the day. <Page 322>

Thoughtless Thoughts of Ryo | Written by Ryo | Yeolrimwon | 360 pages | 20,000 KRW