[New Book] "I Want to Go Home" at Work... Create Your Own Cabin

Lee Dongaeh, Lee Donghee
"I Want to Go Home"

Starting from a single line scribbled on a whiteboard-"I want to go home"-this book confronts the hearts of all of us who feel exhausted and shaken between work and life. Identical twin sisters Lee Dongaeh and Lee Donghee, who have worked together for 30 years as a journalist and a producer at MBC, experienced burnout and brain fog one day. Standing in front of the heartfelt sentence "I want to go home" written on the newsroom whiteboard, they felt a deep resonance. Over the next few days, more colleagues joined in, saying "Me too," and the sisters realized this was not just a simple complaint, but the language of collective fatigue and resistance of our times.

The authors interpret the essence of this phrase as "a secret act of resistance to protect oneself." The desire to leave work as soon as you arrive, the emotional drain from constant monitoring and endless demands for communication, and the reality of having to hide your feelings and wear a mask at work-these are all signs of the structural fatigue created by today's organizational culture. Instead of denying or hiding these feelings, the book advises making them the starting point for change.

The book is divided into five parts, dissecting the truth behind the desire to go home, offering everyday practices to restore a positive mindset, techniques for growth within relationships, lessons in attitude from role models, and step-by-step guidance on finding a sanctuary for the mind. Practical yet warm advice follows, such as how to secure one hour a day for yourself, the power of appropriate bravado, and how to turn a "villain" in relationships into fuel for growth. As the authors say, "The goal of company life is not success, but countless attempts." They encourage readers to explore and utilize their workplaces and to create their own stories.

Personal narratives, such as a visit to Studio Ghibli and realizations found in front of the waves in Yangyang, add warmth to the book. The message that you should secure your own "cabin" and focus on yourself for at least one hour a day also leaves a deep impression.

As Professor Jeong Jaeseung notes, this book insightfully records how the workplace can nurture a person and at the same time deplete them. Until we can say, "Wherever I am is my home," this book shows the way to bring us home-or back to ourselves.

I Want to Go Home | Written by Lee Dongaeh and Lee Donghee | Malhaneunnamu | 264 pages | 18,500 won