On the sacredness and exhilaration of reading and writing
 |
Description
Book Introduction
As long as we live, we must write! ― A book titled 'Writing as a way to live, earn a living, and for health and well-being' that contains the ontology of writing and practical tips! A book containing the vision and know-how on reading and writing classics that classical critic Go Mi-sook has gained through her 20 years of study community activities. Above all, the best part is the 'Ontology of Writing' in Part 1, 'Theory', which deals with why people write, how human nature and writing are connected, and why we must read and write as long as we live. The ability to create, coordinate, and communicate through words and writing, the most universal mediums for self-reflection and relationships with others—that is the path to becoming the master of one's own life, and that is why we must read and write. In particular, the author goes beyond the simple fact that you have to read a lot to write about the relationship between reading and writing, saying that “writing is an extension, a reversal, and a leap forward from reading,” and that “if you read, you have to write.” He argues that when you fervently read and write classics full of insights about life and the world, writing can become “a way of life, a way of life, and also a way to make a living.” Part 2 of this book, "Practical," is based on recordings of actual writing classes. It contains helpful tips for practical writing, organized into four categories: "Column Writing," "Review Writing," "Essay Writing," and "Travel Writing." |
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Preview
index
At the beginning: Good now and good later!
Prologue: Why Do I Write? My Writing Journey
Part 1: Theory - Ontology of Writing
1.
To live is to know
To 'live' is to 'stand'
Humans, the existence of 'between'
Homo sapiens sapiens - think 'think'!
Why did the stone monkey go west? - Escape from thought!
To preserve life? ― Be eager to know!
2.
Knowing - reading and writing
Heaven and Earth, the GPS of Existence
The word is 'diva'!
The beginning of text messaging and social media
Trees, messengers of wisdom
Thesis 1 - Now that you've read it, write it!
Thesis 2 - Read to Write!
On Reading and Writing, Their Sacredness and Refreshingness
3.
On the sacredness of reading
Books are stars!
A gift from God - Blessed be the reader!
The revolution is the liberation of books - books for all!
Books are me! From self-consciousness to self-esteem
Even dieting requires spirituality?!
Eros longs for Logos!
Want to experience the bliss of Confucius and Buddha? Read on!
4.
About the exhilaration of writing
The Birth of a New 'Class' - Readers and Writers
Convergence and Focus - Bring Order to Chaos!
A delightful trio of 'brain, hand, and tongue'
Life is Creation! ― Eros and Writing
Good now and good later!
There are no geniuses in writing!
A New Measure of Wealth - Books and Humor
Writing creates a path, and a path creates food!
The Secrets of Writing from Buddha and Confucius
5.
Dare to know! Dare to write!
From the Big Bang to Black Holes
This is my first life - Towards the Trans Generation!
How Can a Sexual Revolution Be Possible? ― The Art of Writing and Sexuality
A Vision for 21st Century Civilization - From Ownership to Gifting
Digital Nomads - Writing is the Future!
Part 2: Practical Applications—A Feast of Popular Intelligence
1.
Writing a Column: A Universe of 1,800 Characters
First Impressions - Get Started! Focus!
Herbivore 2 - Ride the Rhythm of the Four Seasons
Tip 3: Use Everything in Your Daily Life
First Step 4 - The Battle of Procedural Polishing and Self-Consciousness
Column writing example
2.
Becoming a Review Master: A Vibrant Chemistry with Text
What is a Review? - The Materialism of Encounter
Reading - Connecting without Mind
Again, reading is connecting with selfishness.
To write is to spit out new text!
Example sentences for writing reviews
3.
Essay Hara: Becoming the Philosopher of Your Own Life
What is Philosophy?: Existence, Knowledge, and Ethics
Who am I?: Perception and Reasoning
What do I exist as? - Desire and Action
How to Live? - Ethics and Vision
Give the order! Make the difference!
Essay writing examples
4.
The Secret to Traveling: From Wandering to Nomadism!
Why do humans constantly go on journeys?
Journeys of Our Time - Between Nomadism and Nomadism
Secrets of Travelogue 1: A Feast of Words and Stories
Secrets of Travelogue 2: The Scene of the Incident, the Birth of Thought
Travel writing sample
Epilogue: Popular Intelligence and Classic Rewriting
Prologue: Why Do I Write? My Writing Journey
Part 1: Theory - Ontology of Writing
1.
To live is to know
To 'live' is to 'stand'
Humans, the existence of 'between'
Homo sapiens sapiens - think 'think'!
Why did the stone monkey go west? - Escape from thought!
To preserve life? ― Be eager to know!
2.
Knowing - reading and writing
Heaven and Earth, the GPS of Existence
The word is 'diva'!
The beginning of text messaging and social media
Trees, messengers of wisdom
Thesis 1 - Now that you've read it, write it!
Thesis 2 - Read to Write!
On Reading and Writing, Their Sacredness and Refreshingness
3.
On the sacredness of reading
Books are stars!
A gift from God - Blessed be the reader!
The revolution is the liberation of books - books for all!
Books are me! From self-consciousness to self-esteem
Even dieting requires spirituality?!
Eros longs for Logos!
Want to experience the bliss of Confucius and Buddha? Read on!
4.
About the exhilaration of writing
The Birth of a New 'Class' - Readers and Writers
Convergence and Focus - Bring Order to Chaos!
A delightful trio of 'brain, hand, and tongue'
Life is Creation! ― Eros and Writing
Good now and good later!
There are no geniuses in writing!
A New Measure of Wealth - Books and Humor
Writing creates a path, and a path creates food!
The Secrets of Writing from Buddha and Confucius
5.
Dare to know! Dare to write!
From the Big Bang to Black Holes
This is my first life - Towards the Trans Generation!
How Can a Sexual Revolution Be Possible? ― The Art of Writing and Sexuality
A Vision for 21st Century Civilization - From Ownership to Gifting
Digital Nomads - Writing is the Future!
Part 2: Practical Applications—A Feast of Popular Intelligence
1.
Writing a Column: A Universe of 1,800 Characters
First Impressions - Get Started! Focus!
Herbivore 2 - Ride the Rhythm of the Four Seasons
Tip 3: Use Everything in Your Daily Life
First Step 4 - The Battle of Procedural Polishing and Self-Consciousness
Column writing example
2.
Becoming a Review Master: A Vibrant Chemistry with Text
What is a Review? - The Materialism of Encounter
Reading - Connecting without Mind
Again, reading is connecting with selfishness.
To write is to spit out new text!
Example sentences for writing reviews
3.
Essay Hara: Becoming the Philosopher of Your Own Life
What is Philosophy?: Existence, Knowledge, and Ethics
Who am I?: Perception and Reasoning
What do I exist as? - Desire and Action
How to Live? - Ethics and Vision
Give the order! Make the difference!
Essay writing examples
4.
The Secret to Traveling: From Wandering to Nomadism!
Why do humans constantly go on journeys?
Journeys of Our Time - Between Nomadism and Nomadism
Secrets of Travelogue 1: A Feast of Words and Stories
Secrets of Travelogue 2: The Scene of the Incident, the Birth of Thought
Travel writing sample
Epilogue: Popular Intelligence and Classic Rewriting
Into the book
“This book is about writing.
Most books on writing are about writing techniques.
How can I write well? A good mix of subject matter and material, fluent rhetoric, a solid logical structure, and so on.
Of course it's important.
However, if you want to write for life or as a profession, you need insight into the principles of writing more than anything else.
Why do people write? What does writing mean to humans? What is the relationship between nature and writing? And so on.
So, it is better to first build an ontology and then go into practice.
If you start from the beginning, you will quickly run out of capital.
If that happens, more than anything, you will lose the motivation to continue writing.
My pragmatism is that anything must be rooted in order to be applied as a life skill.
So, this book is largely divided into ‘theory’ and ‘practice’.
The former is the ontology of writing, and the latter is a concise transcript of the 'Special Lecture on Writing' that was held at 'Gamidang'.
I hope to explore vision through ontology and acquire various writing techniques in a thorough and meticulous manner through practical sections.
Of course, the two are not separate.
When vision exploration and practical training occur simultaneously, writing and daily life become one.
If you go like that, step by step, you will find out.
Why writing is a way to live, a way to find meaning, and a way to make a living.
I didn't know before.
I never thought I would write one or two books a year.
And I never thought I would make a living through writing, meet the world, and explore the vision of life and death.
But then something like that happened.
It's a miracle! ^^ That's what I thought.
If someone as ordinary as me can do it, then can't anyone? Above all, is there anything else that's "good now and good later" than writing? Is there anything else that's "good in this life and good in the next"? And, crucially, is there anything else that's "good for me and good for others" than writing?
--- From the "Preface"
“If reading is to become a life activity, it must be written.
Oh, here's another terrible misunderstanding.
Put writing after reading.
It's a misconception that you can only write after reading, and after reading a lot.
You are absolutely right.
Reading and writing are simultaneous.
You don't write after reading, you read to write.
No, it has to be that way.
If you only read without writing, it is an act that even alienates reading.
Such a reading is half-hearted.
The moment you close the book, it disappears like a bubble.
There are only a few phrases that linger.
So, if you're just going to forget it anyway, why read it? You could fall into "book-nihilism," thinking, "No matter how much you read, it's all in vain."
But if you read it with the intention of writing, it's very different.
Please give it a try.
Writing completely changes the direction and intensity/density of reading.
Never fall prey to nihilism.
To put it metaphorically, it's the difference between watching and creating.
The onlookers just watch forever.
The creator also watches.
But that sight is also part of creation.
Likewise, with writing in mind, the process of reading becomes more urgent.
“Because reading is also a process of writing.”
--- From "Chapter 2: Knowing - Reading and Writing"
“The path to regaining self-esteem is not difficult.
Rather than isolating yourself from the outside world, you should continue to connect and expand with it.
It is an attempt at 'hyperconnection' not in terms of success and competition, but in terms of a deeper level of existence.
That is the reading method I mentioned earlier.
Knowing that the book I am reading is me.
If I keep going like that, I will soon become the world, a star, and the universe.
That in itself is already healing.
I come to see the world not as an object of competition and domination, but as the vast foundation and background of my existence.
Self-esteem is filled in that fluidity.
If you want to enjoy it? Become a body that can 'read' anything, that can 'discover' yourself in every book—that's all you need."
--- From “On the Holiness of Reading Chapter 3”
“If you read, you must write.
If you hear it, you must pass it on.
The ultimate goal of studying, learning, and intelligence is writing.
It can't be anything else.
But why do we neglect this dividing line? Is it a secret strategy of capital? Perhaps so.
Capital has abolished almost all barriers.
The movement of capital has no borders, race, or region.
Instead, there is a much more fundamental and profound dividing line.
Those who make products and those who consume them.
Those who make movies and those who watch them.
Sportsmen and spectators, food makers and tasters, etc.
Is it because I am obsessed with this perception?
Even in the humanities, the barrier between those who spread knowledge and those who view it has become stronger.
"Listeners and transmitters, writers and readers, speakers and listeners? A clearer division than school ties, regional ties, or class! We are witnessing the birth of a truly new class."
--- From "On the Exhilaration of Writing Chapter 4"
“Ah, then I knew.
Writing is not an inevitable choice for those like me who are expelled from the system, but a fundamental practice that everyone must undertake.
We must practice activities that change our perceptions and transform our thinking every day, every moment.
To do that, you have to write.
When you turn towards writing, you become a producer rather than a spectator.
When you hear, you convey it, when you speak, you listen, when you read, you write! These are activities that every person should possess fully.
The body wants it all! If you dwell on just one thing, your energy and blood flow will be blocked.
It hurts when it's blocked.
Both body and mind.
“If it ‘works’, it doesn’t hurt/If it hurts, it doesn’t ‘work’)???? This is the principle that writing is a way to maintain good health.”
--- From "On the Exhilaration of Writing Chapter 4"
“Actually, writing is about facing life and the world.
It may sound a bit grandiose, but it's actually quite ordinary.
Living is ultimately about meeting people and learning about this world, right? Writing is simply a way to do that with language and letters.
So, the most important thing in writing is interest in people.
You must also be filled with intellectual curiosity about the world.
If that doesn't work, it's difficult to write properly.
“It is very likely that you will be caught up in the shackles of self-consciousness.”
--- From "Chapter 1: Writing a Column: A Universe in 1,800 Characters"
“When I tell people to read books and write, some people ask, ‘Why are you reading when you don’t plan on making a living from it?’
This is because you don't know what studying is.
Whether I do physical labor, become a civil servant, or work as a deliveryman, a life without studying is impossible.
Otherwise, no one can escape marginalization.
How can you have self-esteem if you can't give meaning to your life? Only with self-esteem can you treat the people you meet with sincerity.
That power that creates a true attitude, that is concentration, and that is why you should read books.
So, that power and wisdom must be available at any time.
In other words, reading books and writing are the best assets that you can always use throughout your life.
If that happens, this will be your livelihood.
You can make a living by writing, and if you have the strength to focus on other work, you can make a living from that too.
This cycle, the cycle of food, writing, and books.
Keep this in mind.
So you selected the text last week.
You have made a choice, and you need to write down and verbalize the story of why you made that choice.
If possible, you should refer to your own notes, but you should be able to talk fluently.”
Most books on writing are about writing techniques.
How can I write well? A good mix of subject matter and material, fluent rhetoric, a solid logical structure, and so on.
Of course it's important.
However, if you want to write for life or as a profession, you need insight into the principles of writing more than anything else.
Why do people write? What does writing mean to humans? What is the relationship between nature and writing? And so on.
So, it is better to first build an ontology and then go into practice.
If you start from the beginning, you will quickly run out of capital.
If that happens, more than anything, you will lose the motivation to continue writing.
My pragmatism is that anything must be rooted in order to be applied as a life skill.
So, this book is largely divided into ‘theory’ and ‘practice’.
The former is the ontology of writing, and the latter is a concise transcript of the 'Special Lecture on Writing' that was held at 'Gamidang'.
I hope to explore vision through ontology and acquire various writing techniques in a thorough and meticulous manner through practical sections.
Of course, the two are not separate.
When vision exploration and practical training occur simultaneously, writing and daily life become one.
If you go like that, step by step, you will find out.
Why writing is a way to live, a way to find meaning, and a way to make a living.
I didn't know before.
I never thought I would write one or two books a year.
And I never thought I would make a living through writing, meet the world, and explore the vision of life and death.
But then something like that happened.
It's a miracle! ^^ That's what I thought.
If someone as ordinary as me can do it, then can't anyone? Above all, is there anything else that's "good now and good later" than writing? Is there anything else that's "good in this life and good in the next"? And, crucially, is there anything else that's "good for me and good for others" than writing?
--- From the "Preface"
“If reading is to become a life activity, it must be written.
Oh, here's another terrible misunderstanding.
Put writing after reading.
It's a misconception that you can only write after reading, and after reading a lot.
You are absolutely right.
Reading and writing are simultaneous.
You don't write after reading, you read to write.
No, it has to be that way.
If you only read without writing, it is an act that even alienates reading.
Such a reading is half-hearted.
The moment you close the book, it disappears like a bubble.
There are only a few phrases that linger.
So, if you're just going to forget it anyway, why read it? You could fall into "book-nihilism," thinking, "No matter how much you read, it's all in vain."
But if you read it with the intention of writing, it's very different.
Please give it a try.
Writing completely changes the direction and intensity/density of reading.
Never fall prey to nihilism.
To put it metaphorically, it's the difference between watching and creating.
The onlookers just watch forever.
The creator also watches.
But that sight is also part of creation.
Likewise, with writing in mind, the process of reading becomes more urgent.
“Because reading is also a process of writing.”
--- From "Chapter 2: Knowing - Reading and Writing"
“The path to regaining self-esteem is not difficult.
Rather than isolating yourself from the outside world, you should continue to connect and expand with it.
It is an attempt at 'hyperconnection' not in terms of success and competition, but in terms of a deeper level of existence.
That is the reading method I mentioned earlier.
Knowing that the book I am reading is me.
If I keep going like that, I will soon become the world, a star, and the universe.
That in itself is already healing.
I come to see the world not as an object of competition and domination, but as the vast foundation and background of my existence.
Self-esteem is filled in that fluidity.
If you want to enjoy it? Become a body that can 'read' anything, that can 'discover' yourself in every book—that's all you need."
--- From “On the Holiness of Reading Chapter 3”
“If you read, you must write.
If you hear it, you must pass it on.
The ultimate goal of studying, learning, and intelligence is writing.
It can't be anything else.
But why do we neglect this dividing line? Is it a secret strategy of capital? Perhaps so.
Capital has abolished almost all barriers.
The movement of capital has no borders, race, or region.
Instead, there is a much more fundamental and profound dividing line.
Those who make products and those who consume them.
Those who make movies and those who watch them.
Sportsmen and spectators, food makers and tasters, etc.
Is it because I am obsessed with this perception?
Even in the humanities, the barrier between those who spread knowledge and those who view it has become stronger.
"Listeners and transmitters, writers and readers, speakers and listeners? A clearer division than school ties, regional ties, or class! We are witnessing the birth of a truly new class."
--- From "On the Exhilaration of Writing Chapter 4"
“Ah, then I knew.
Writing is not an inevitable choice for those like me who are expelled from the system, but a fundamental practice that everyone must undertake.
We must practice activities that change our perceptions and transform our thinking every day, every moment.
To do that, you have to write.
When you turn towards writing, you become a producer rather than a spectator.
When you hear, you convey it, when you speak, you listen, when you read, you write! These are activities that every person should possess fully.
The body wants it all! If you dwell on just one thing, your energy and blood flow will be blocked.
It hurts when it's blocked.
Both body and mind.
“If it ‘works’, it doesn’t hurt/If it hurts, it doesn’t ‘work’)???? This is the principle that writing is a way to maintain good health.”
--- From "On the Exhilaration of Writing Chapter 4"
“Actually, writing is about facing life and the world.
It may sound a bit grandiose, but it's actually quite ordinary.
Living is ultimately about meeting people and learning about this world, right? Writing is simply a way to do that with language and letters.
So, the most important thing in writing is interest in people.
You must also be filled with intellectual curiosity about the world.
If that doesn't work, it's difficult to write properly.
“It is very likely that you will be caught up in the shackles of self-consciousness.”
--- From "Chapter 1: Writing a Column: A Universe in 1,800 Characters"
“When I tell people to read books and write, some people ask, ‘Why are you reading when you don’t plan on making a living from it?’
This is because you don't know what studying is.
Whether I do physical labor, become a civil servant, or work as a deliveryman, a life without studying is impossible.
Otherwise, no one can escape marginalization.
How can you have self-esteem if you can't give meaning to your life? Only with self-esteem can you treat the people you meet with sincerity.
That power that creates a true attitude, that is concentration, and that is why you should read books.
So, that power and wisdom must be available at any time.
In other words, reading books and writing are the best assets that you can always use throughout your life.
If that happens, this will be your livelihood.
You can make a living by writing, and if you have the strength to focus on other work, you can make a living from that too.
This cycle, the cycle of food, writing, and books.
Keep this in mind.
So you selected the text last week.
You have made a choice, and you need to write down and verbalize the story of why you made that choice.
If possible, you should refer to your own notes, but you should be able to talk fluently.”
--- From "Becoming a Master of Chapter 2 Reviews: 'Active' Chemistry with Text"
Publisher's Review
An interview with the author of "Gomisuk Koh's Special Lecture on Writing: On the Sacredness and Exhilaration of Reading and Writing."
1.
There are many books on writing, but your book deals with the 'ontology of writing' that cannot be found in other books on writing.
You say that "writing" is essential to sustaining our lives and existence. Could you briefly explain how writing, which has been considered a privilege only for special individuals, can become a force that sustains existence in general?
I don't know if I can put it briefly, but^^, it's easy to think of writing as one of many hobbies like traveling or exercising, or as a somewhat specialized hobby.
I used to think that way too.
But as I've been unemployed for about 20 years, writing one or two books a year and experimenting with various community activities and life, I've discovered new things about 'writing' itself.
To conclude, writing is by no means just one of many hobbies.
Let me just briefly touch on a few key points.
Now is the 'age of popular intelligence'.
The 'age of popular intelligence' is an era in which the masses become elites (in the traditional sense).
So what is an 'elite'? It's 'a person who can write'.
If you can write and give people a sense of awareness and direction for their thoughts, then you are an 'elite'.
No, you have to receive the writings produced by (the elites) and live by their reasons, then you become part of the 'public'.
Looking at it this way, ‘writing’ is connected to a certain ‘essential ability’, unlike other activities.
We live in an environment where everyone has the opportunity to write.
In other words, the distinction between 'the masses' and 'the elite' is losing the meaning it once had.
Digital networks, the Internet, and smartphones are making endless reading possible.
All you have to do is edit the things there well and unfold 'my thoughts'.
But I wondered if thinking of writing as a common hobby or something particularly specialized prevents people from going that far (setting the direction of perception and thought).
There are many books on the market about writing.
I think it's because this itself has become a condition that allows anyone to write.
However, most books seem to talk about 'technique', but from my experience with various 'writing'-related activities in the community, I've found that 'technique' isn't actually that important.
It's the same if you learn for 1~2 years.
Technically, you can learn it.
Still, when I think about why some people go so far as to publish a book, while others just give up, I think it's because (in cases where people give up) they don't realize that 'writing' is deeply related to our lives, and they think of it as just a process to go through.
People usually think that if you learn 'techniques' well, you will be able to write well, but that's not true.
What matters is how much I desire to 'write' and how closely I connect it to my life.
As written in the book, ‘writing is the source of existence.’
If you think of writing as the basis of your existence, you won't stop or get frustrated.
It gives me the motivation to keep doing it (writing).
When I write, there's a certain sense of fulfillment that wells up within me, but it's a very subtle feeling.
No one can notice except me.
That's something only you can know.
Because it's not a technique.
But for me, writing gives me such a sense of accomplishment.
Why is that? It's because I've connected writing directly to my very being.
Realizing that, I made a special emphasis on that point in the book.
That perspective on writing is in line with my vision for life as a whole.
Even in any glamorous or successful career, there is something called ‘retirement.’
So, people with such jobs also try to read books, write, etc. when they retire.
Because no matter how brilliant and successful something you've done, if you don't write it down, it will just disappear.
Here's another example:
They say we are in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
What this means is that 'labor' is gradually disappearing.
So what on earth are we going to do with the time we had to work that is now free?
Ultimately, humans must redraw the map of perception.
People need to dissect themselves and reflect on themselves.
And we also need to build new relationships with others.
So what do we need then? Words and writing.
I believe this can become everyone's vision, because I believe that speech and writing are the most universal mediums through which we can reflect on ourselves and connect with others.
Should we just leave this important task to the elites and follow suit? There's no need for that.
Everyone must find a way to become the master of their own life, and these things are coming together like this to create a new, boundless universe. This is perhaps the new model of life brought about by the digital revolution. In that case, the most important thing is the ability to create, coordinate, and communicate through words and writing.
In that respect, I think it is time to revisit the ‘ontology of writing.’
2.
In relation to the previous question, please tell me how writing can be a way to ‘health, seek enlightenment, and earn a living.’
The key to good health is to harmoniously communicate the energy of my body, the spirit and vital energy, with the energy of nature outside my body.
Energy varies from person to person, from region to region, and from season to season.
With all this volatility, what should we do? To create a smooth communication environment, we need to focus.
The problem is how to maintain 'concentration', and 'concentration' and 'obsession' should not be confused.
'Obsession' is the body's desire, pouring energy into one specific thing.
What happens then? Communication with others is cut off.
Then your body will be ruined.
Concentration is the ability to gather energy from your entire body.
When this ability declines, a person's body and mind are always scattered.
We always try to distract ourselves. (Laughs) If you try to do something with one mind, it's actually difficult to do it for even a minute.
I feel that way every moment.
So, I definitely understand what the phrase 'get your act together' means.
If you miss that, you'll feel like you're just floating around all day.
So, you have to 'concentrate', and to do this, your energy has to go down to the bottom of your body and hold on tight.
But if it rises and floats around? Then that's 'addiction'.
The state of coming down and exerting strength to hold on is called 'su seung hwa gang' in epidemiology.
Activities such as meditation, prayer, and prostration are meant to create that state.
Such activities should be incorporated into our daily lives.
But what activities can ordinary people, not "practitioners," do? Reading and writing.
This job is absolutely not addictive.
Are you addicted to reading? No one is.
You can become addicted to a certain genre.
However, if you give such a person the Buddhist scriptures or the Book of Changes, he will never become addicted.
Can you become addicted to Spinoza's Ethics? It's impossible.
Are you addicted to writing? That can happen if you don't know what you're saying.
We cannot become addicted to reflecting on our lives and the world through writing.
When you write like that, your whole body gathers energy and becomes focused.
There is nothing better than this for health.
I think the best way to gather your body and mind is to read first, and then write.
Next, ‘composition’ is looking at one’s life in the long term.
It is about looking at one's own life and death, and the core of it is life and death, and ultimately 'death'.
'How do we interpret death?' That's the key.
Death is 'absolute'.
The question is how you view this while you are alive.
If you just live, you won't see it.
That's why you have to study by reading books, observing what other people thought, applying it to your own life, and so on.
If we do that, we will eventually reach the point 2600 years ago that Karen Armstrong called the "Axial Age."
It was the era in which Socrates, Confucius, Laozi, and Buddha appeared.
Their topic is also 'death'.
How should we interpret 'death'?
Even if I die, life goes on.
Whether you call it 'history', 'cosmic cycle', or 'immortality of the soul', there has to be an interpretation of it.
There is no right answer.
Because there is no right answer, we keep searching.
That's the 'structure'.
There is an 'answer', and going to find it is not a 'quest'.
The act of holding on to a fundamental question and continuing to move toward the horizon is 'composition'.
It is when we walk that path that humans are saved.
Realizing that life and death are ultimately connected, practicing death while falling asleep comfortably, and ultimately being able to accept one's own death with composure, and thus affirming one's life - that is the way of salvation.
As for earning a living, I didn't become a professor even though I got my PhD.
It's been about 20 years since I started living as a middle-aged unemployed person.
You've been eating well and living well, haven't you? So how did you manage to eat well and live well? You read books, you write.
Because I write, I am able to read a variety of books.
Many people were able to unite through reading and writing within the community.
When study and people come together, food is created.
This is a law as certain as scientific principles.
Give it a try.
We gather to study, and we study together, but we never go hungry.
Isn't politics, industry, and the economy all about connecting people? They all make a living from that.
But in a way, those things are very temporary.
When I had a company, and when I was a member of the National Assembly, things like that.
However, because reading and writing are universal activities that humanity will have to do forever, in some ways they are a very stable foundation for making a living.
My life is proof of that.
And with this good foundation, it would be nice if people could walk together on the road, so a network was formed and that's how we got here.
People who came to this network quit their jobs, came to write, gave lectures, and were able to make a good living.
However, you should not mistake eating well and living well for being socially successful and so on.
What that means is that it's a way to make a living that's truly useful to yourself and beneficial to others.
It's not about making money by deceiving others, or being addicted to making money itself and making more money than necessary.
Then 'alienation' occurs.
However, the act of reading and writing is beneficial to me and to others, so it is honorable.
The food and money I earn that way keep me healthy, and if there's any leftover, I think about how to share it.
Is there any other job like this?
3.
It is often said that to write well, you need to read a lot.
So, there are quite a few books that talk about the importance of writing and reading together.
However, the teacher goes further and says, “Writing is an extension, a reversal, and a leap forward from reading,” and insists, “If you read, you must write.”
Please tell me why writing is a leap forward in reading and why reading should lead to writing.
This is a very important point.
In the past, just reading a book was a huge leap forward because books were not accessible.
But now everyone has access to books.
There are libraries everywhere, and they are overflowing with books.
And also, the level of education has increased significantly.
So, in fact, I am reading enough.
But, the fact that so many people have read this much means that they should all be able to write something, but this is not happening.
Amazingly.
I really wondered about that.
If you don't write, your reading will become impoverished.
Because you can't go beyond a certain level.
Reading is your hobby? Then, hobbies should be enjoyable.
Then I will only read books that make me happy and comfortable.
It is not easy to produce something by only reading such books.
There are limits to how much awareness can expand.
Because it's fun, it keeps my emotions engaged.
'I just have to read.' Then, the scope of reading will not go beyond the framework established by authors and scholars, and in fact, there will be no thought of breaking away from it.
I diligently read and listen to books and lectures written by other people.
This is actually an edited version.
But let's say we learn something from it.
This is actually very important too.
But the knowledge gained in this way is extremely rare.
When I try to apply that to my life, what should I say, it becomes so faint that it doesn't even add up to a handful.
Outside the realm of such reading and lectures, there is an abundance of all kinds of fancy products and services created by capital.
They have extremely powerful powers.
But let's say you listen to the lectures, read the book, and your awareness expands and your thinking broadens.
But what about life? I still indulge in shopping and all sorts of other addictive things.
It's not easy to gather the strength to change your daily life by simply reading and listening to lectures.
And today, young people enjoy vastly expanded educational opportunities, yet they still go around shouting, "Who am I? Where am I?"
Why do people say they don't know how to live? What exactly is college? Education is supposed to give you the ability to find your own path in life.
But, they can't become independent from their parents, they can't rebel against society or offer alternatives, and their lives are just unsettled.
Why on earth did this happen? It's been decades since we've been blaming the capitalist order and materialism for the problem.
The ‘foundation’ has not changed.
So what is that "foundation"? It's not "jobs."
I didn't learn 'writing' in college.
write.
It is because you have not become the ‘writing subject’.
When you write, you speak.
If I'm going to speak in front of someone, I need to be able to write.
There are clear limitations to simply reading and consuming books.
If I read a book and it's really difficult, I just put it down.
And I get a really bad feeling.
"Reading is harmful." (Laughs) But what if I become the "writer"? I'm moved when I read a difficult book.
I wondered, ‘How much did this person have to suffer to write such a difficult book?’
When I read a book like Foucault's "The Word and the Thing," I feel both respect and hostility toward him.
However, this feeling and belief that 'I will read to the end' arises.
What happens if you pass this process?
Your reading muscles will grow significantly.
For example, it's like mountain climbing.
They say that after walking around Namsan every day, they went to Dobongsan.
The point where you go to Jaunbong Peak on Mt. Dobong is extremely difficult.
That's not fun.
It's hard.
But I believe it.
When I get past this point, I gain power.
And then there's freedom.
Because freedom comes from ability.
You have to go there to know.
So, when I write, I feel like I want to follow the paths of thought of Nietzsche, Spinoza, Foucault, Buddhism, and the Book of Changes.
What happens if you don't use it? You'll end up complaining all the time about how difficult it is.
Then you will only read books that are not difficult.
Continuing to reinforce my stereotypes and common sense.
Otherwise, it would be 'what's the point of doing this?'
So writing is plagued by a number of problems.
Education issues, youth issues, etc.
Why doesn't education focus on fostering the ability to create language on one's own? If it did, writing would be required throughout college.
Regardless of what your major is, whether it's liberal arts, science, medicine, or engineering, you train yourself to recognize how your studies connect to your life.
This is actually the core of intelligence.
If you have this solid foundation, you can confidently and proudly make choices about what job you want to pursue when you enter society with your specialized knowledge.
Because this is not trained, it ends up wandering.
It's the same even when you're middle-aged.
Life is so meaningless, and I don't know how to live anymore.
A lot of middle-aged people come to ‘Gamidang’ where I work.
They are very socially successful people.
But I don't know how to live my life, and I don't know how to structure my life.
Even though it is not an ordinary thing to succeed in business.
Even though I have to lead and guide young people, my concerns are the same as theirs.
So what should I do about this? I have to read a book.
When reading a book, you should not just read, but read as a ‘writing being.’
You're connecting with the greatest minds in humanity.
If I weren't a writer, how far would I have read?
I don't think it would have gone any further than what I was doing in graduate school.
But because I had to write, because I had to produce, because I had to keep applying it to my life, I ended up reading books like Donguibogam.
And now I'm reading the Book of Changes and Buddhist scriptures.
When I look at books like that, I can't believe that such books came out 2,600 years ago.
So, what I'm saying is that human intelligence has already reached that point thousands of years ago.
But why do we have to repeat these shallow, and in some ways, deeply adolescent, emotions when the ocean is already out there?
In the end, you have to become a writer and connect to it.
Then something like going to Switzerland, where Nietzsche wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra, happens.
Even if we take 『Yeolha Diary』 as an example, it is the same.
My life was turned around by 『Yeolha Diary』, and I read it because I had to write about Yeonam.
At that time, there were no popular translations like there are now, and since they were translations by experts, they were not written in the Korean we use today.
Even though it was that kind of book, I got sucked into it.
As I read it, I realized that it was very profound and interesting.
The same goes for 『Im Kkeok-jeong』.
If I weren't the one writing it, I think I would have read it three times.
I read it because I had to write it, and it made me want to swim in it.
This is the leap from 'writing' to 'reading'.
If you don't write, you'll never improve your reading.
4.
In Part 2, Practical, we were able to get a glimpse into how writing-related activities are carried out at the Gami Dang where the teacher works.
Could you please explain in more detail how writing-related activities have been and are currently taking place in the community?
About eight years ago, one of the mottos put forth by Gamidang was ‘practicing writing.’
So, (the community) started out with the goal of ‘writing training.’
So, if I were to introduce the subjects taught in 'Public Intelligence' (among the programs run by Gamidang), there are three subjects: epidemiology, which deals with 'the body and the universe'; a subject that recites various texts; and writing.
One day a week, I study those three subjects.
The 'Public Intelligence' program, which covers these three subjects, is run over four semesters: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
But then one day, I heard a rumor that the 'Popular Intelligence' program was incredibly difficult.
I only do it once a week, and I wondered why.
When I looked closely, I realized that it wasn't the class that was difficult, but rather the writing that was difficult.
It's not like you have to present every time, but you have to do an 8-week course and present an essay once.
Is it really that hard to use one per season? When I use it, it almost feels like a battlefield.
When I think about why that is, it's not that writing is difficult, but rather because I've never used the rhythm of my body in that way.
When we learn a new exercise, it's all difficult at first.
Because you have to use muscles you haven't used before.
But once you get the basics down, it becomes natural.
It's the same thing.
Even though I was screaming and struggling so much, I kept going.
It's a bit more diverse and a bit more difficult now.
For example, there were times when I stayed up all night giving presentations, and the next morning, people's expressions were so bright.
There are no awards or fancy after-parties.
There is no compensation.
But everyone is so proud.
What's the reason for this satisfaction? The core of it is that I've drawn a map of my life in my own words.
The sense of fulfillment this gives is incomparable to anything else.
However, the problem is that the 'Popular Intelligence' program is run on different days of the week and runs for a year, so there are people who cannot access these long-term programs.
If you miss it once, you have to wait another year to participate.
So, I opened up a number of short-term writing classes.
But there, we also ran a program where we wrote reviews, essays, travel stories, etc.
That's where I learned it again.
I have a strong desire to write.
I have once again confirmed that people like to produce things themselves rather than listen to others.
This is nature.
It's more important to take one step than to watch someone else take a thousand steps.
This is the command of existence.
When you write, you can speak to people.
The reason I've been able to make a living by writing is partly because of the community, and partly because the humanities space outside of universities has opened up significantly since around 2008.
The environmental impact is also significant.
The erosion of capital has become massive, and stable jobs are disappearing.
The state of being jobless and homeless has expanded.
Is this necessarily a bad thing? Paradoxically, it's actually increased people's available time.
Libraries have sprung up all over the place.
Even in 2003, when I published “Yeolha Diary: A Pleasant Space-Time of Laughter and Paradox” and was giving lectures, all of those libraries were under construction.
All those libraries were built.
But these libraries are in really cool places.
Digital libraries are being built in rural areas, and in cities, they are being built in spaces with forests or parks.
That kind of space has opened up.
This means that a space for 'lifelong learning' is opened up for free.
It's not just the library.
There are many programs available for studying humanities at district offices and local governments.
After giving lectures for over 20 years, I can say that.
So people gather in that open space.
So what should be there? There should be a learning program.
And there has to be an instructor.
From 2008 onwards, I started to get busier and busier.
That's not all.
I also receive many requests for lectures from private companies.
We also receive requests from places like teacher training and civil servant training.
Who should be in charge of all these lectures? Those who actually host these lectures often say, "We've already called everyone we need, so we don't know who to call."
In the future, we will need a lot of instructor pool in this area.
So, that's what we study at Gamidang.
'Write, and then lecture.'
So, when you write and reach a certain level, you are given the opportunity to give lectures.
It gives you a chance for a kind of self-training.
So, I hope that each person will create their own network in the space they want to be active in, whether it be their own region or their own generation.
That is the vision of Gamidang.
5.
Part 2, Practical, provides specific advice on four genres of writing (columns, reviews, essays, and travelogues).
If there are any key characteristics of each of the four writing styles, could you please elaborate on them?
And, if there is a universal principle of writing that runs through all genres, what would it be?
The 'Practical Edition' is based on a recording of my lecture at Gamidang.
The lectures were held in 8- or 10-week units.
The lectures were conducted in groups, with tutors supervising each group.
If we go on like this, there will be almost no dropouts.
It's the same principle as climbing a mountain together, encouraging each other and climbing together until the end.
That's why Gamidang considers group activities very important.
Writing a column is, above all, about capturing the essence of your thoughts, combined with social issues, on a single page.
This is something that cannot be done without training.
It shouldn't be written as a mere commentary on society.
We need to think about how social phenomena pass through our bodies, how they connect to our daily lives, and thus how they dominate or guide us.
In other words, there must be a sense of problem.
That's the point.
Reviews, book reviews—how many book reviews are there in the world? But if you just write them as sentimental comments, you loosen your connection to the book significantly.
When writing a review, it's important to focus on selecting a book, and then on reading it.
You should read it at least three times.
It is usually a misconception that you know a book by reading it the first time.
No matter how easy a book is, you have to read it at least three times.
You absolutely must read it at least three times and write a two-page review.
So how do I do that? First, I need to have a story.
If you read a book and tell a story to someone, you have to create a storyline.
This is training.
When I can't think of what to say, I just read a book and sleep.
Actually, this also really creates chemistry.
You might not believe it, but it's true. (Laughs) Anyway, you can't do it half-heartedly.
Above all, this is a practice of building ‘relationships’.
Even in relationships with people, if you do things sloppily, you'll end up with a mountain of embarrassing things later.
The same goes for books.
So, writing reviews is training how to relate to books and how to relate to others.
Next, the essay is about philosophy.
The essay itself is a philosophy.
Is there anyone who doesn't practice philosophy? How can one live without philosophy?
Among the spirits of energy, the spirit is the realm of philosophy.
It's about setting a direction for life, deciding, 'This is how I want to live.'
This is a must have.
You have to become the philosopher of your own life.
Ontology, and the perception of the world, and even the direction of ethics.
An essay is the process of writing it.
Travelogue: These days, a lot of people travel.
When you come back from a trip, all kinds of meanings should pour out.
These days, photos are pouring in.
And the folders keep growing.
And then soon you fall into loneliness.
Instead, the story should be created along with the photos.
So, the travel writing class was a process of learning how to create a story by looking at the world's best travel writing, 『Yeolha Diary』.
What about when you go on a trip? You shouldn't be afraid of "incidents."
Where is the meaning? It's right there in the 'event.'
Each person wrote their own travelogue, and the basic text was 『Yeolha Diary』. It was full of events and stories, so I wrote with reference to that.
Even within these completely different writing genres, the principle remains the same.
'Keep order and make a difference.' This is the fundamental principle that runs through all writing.
The word 'chaseo' combines the two words 'time difference' and 'space order'.
It's the flow of time and space.
Everything goes in stages, like spring, summer, fall, and winter.
It's the same with love.
It comes in like a spring breeze and goes out like an autumn breeze.
And then comes the long, long winter.
It's time to go back to the seeds.
The same goes for business and writing.
All these processes must be followed to leave no surplus to the person.
If you stop using it, you feel uneasy and your back gets sore.
The power of writing is to give ‘a sense of direction’.
There is a beginning, development, turn, and conclusion.
Spring is qi, rising, summer is victory, unfolding, fall is jeon, transition, overturn, ending… .
As the curtain falls on the grand finale, it must lead to another path.
This is neverending.
Because time and space never stop.
If I start writing with this in mind, not only will my writing improve, but I will also be able to apply this to my life.
People don't have much room for things that have a clear introduction, development, turn, and conclusion.
This is the key.
Whether it's a column, a review, or a travelogue, there has to be a sequence.
You can use this freely, presenting the conclusion first in the beginning and then unfolding it one by one in the middle, but this is something you can use after learning the basics.
Because life can also begin in winter.
Or maybe life begins in the middle of a burning flame in midsummer.
But we have to go through these steps again.
In the end.
That's one key point.
So, this is something that everyone needs to learn in common.
Then there must be individual differences.
You have to grab the car, and then you have to create a difference.
What this means is that your own unique sense, emotion, and ethics must be included in the sentence.
Why do we find textbooks and principals' lectures boring? Because there's no difference.
When I hear such words or writing, I immediately get bored.
But even though we experience spring every year, it is never the same.
That's why we don't say we're bored when spring comes.
Ah, spring has come again, I say, welcoming it.
When leaves fall in autumn, it feels like it's the first time.
Because no two fallen leaves are the same.
Neither the wild grasses that bloom in spring nor the leaves that fall in autumn are ever the same at any given moment.
The newness it gives, that's what's important.
The same goes for our language.
You can never write the same sentence in a text.
Unless I copy it, I can't use the same sentences I wrote.
It's only possible at that moment.
But how can it be the same as other people?
Unless we quote proverbs, use platitudes, clichés, or other such things that are often used, the same sentence cannot be made.
Even if our souls communicate, we cannot write the same sentences.
So, to create this difference, this difference, your own individuality must be alive.
But we are erasing our own individuality.
Especially because we are driven by the desire for a huge product, we end up saying the same thing and telling the same story, so it gets boring and we gradually stop talking.
If you watch a movie and talk about it in an interesting way, it's more fun.
Than watching a movie.
So for this to survive, I have to avoid getting swept up in those products or trends.
The characteristic of a product or trend is that it makes it lack individuality.
That way, the crowd will be swept up and start buying things.
Because individuality is key.
If you don't get swept up in it, your own individuality will live on.
But this is something that no one else can know and a teacher cannot coach you on.
This is your personality, it is impossible to do this, so this is really solely yours.
In that sense, the core of writing is to 'give order and create difference', regardless of the type of writing.
In a way, giving a title is an awareness of common sense and universal emotions, and connecting with those emotions opens the way to communication with others.
However, when creating a difference, my uniqueness and impact must be given.
Then, people will feel the joy of discovering a new language, a new path, something like that.
Isn't it simple? Just remember to assign a number and generate a difference. ^^
1.
There are many books on writing, but your book deals with the 'ontology of writing' that cannot be found in other books on writing.
You say that "writing" is essential to sustaining our lives and existence. Could you briefly explain how writing, which has been considered a privilege only for special individuals, can become a force that sustains existence in general?
I don't know if I can put it briefly, but^^, it's easy to think of writing as one of many hobbies like traveling or exercising, or as a somewhat specialized hobby.
I used to think that way too.
But as I've been unemployed for about 20 years, writing one or two books a year and experimenting with various community activities and life, I've discovered new things about 'writing' itself.
To conclude, writing is by no means just one of many hobbies.
Let me just briefly touch on a few key points.
Now is the 'age of popular intelligence'.
The 'age of popular intelligence' is an era in which the masses become elites (in the traditional sense).
So what is an 'elite'? It's 'a person who can write'.
If you can write and give people a sense of awareness and direction for their thoughts, then you are an 'elite'.
No, you have to receive the writings produced by (the elites) and live by their reasons, then you become part of the 'public'.
Looking at it this way, ‘writing’ is connected to a certain ‘essential ability’, unlike other activities.
We live in an environment where everyone has the opportunity to write.
In other words, the distinction between 'the masses' and 'the elite' is losing the meaning it once had.
Digital networks, the Internet, and smartphones are making endless reading possible.
All you have to do is edit the things there well and unfold 'my thoughts'.
But I wondered if thinking of writing as a common hobby or something particularly specialized prevents people from going that far (setting the direction of perception and thought).
There are many books on the market about writing.
I think it's because this itself has become a condition that allows anyone to write.
However, most books seem to talk about 'technique', but from my experience with various 'writing'-related activities in the community, I've found that 'technique' isn't actually that important.
It's the same if you learn for 1~2 years.
Technically, you can learn it.
Still, when I think about why some people go so far as to publish a book, while others just give up, I think it's because (in cases where people give up) they don't realize that 'writing' is deeply related to our lives, and they think of it as just a process to go through.
People usually think that if you learn 'techniques' well, you will be able to write well, but that's not true.
What matters is how much I desire to 'write' and how closely I connect it to my life.
As written in the book, ‘writing is the source of existence.’
If you think of writing as the basis of your existence, you won't stop or get frustrated.
It gives me the motivation to keep doing it (writing).
When I write, there's a certain sense of fulfillment that wells up within me, but it's a very subtle feeling.
No one can notice except me.
That's something only you can know.
Because it's not a technique.
But for me, writing gives me such a sense of accomplishment.
Why is that? It's because I've connected writing directly to my very being.
Realizing that, I made a special emphasis on that point in the book.
That perspective on writing is in line with my vision for life as a whole.
Even in any glamorous or successful career, there is something called ‘retirement.’
So, people with such jobs also try to read books, write, etc. when they retire.
Because no matter how brilliant and successful something you've done, if you don't write it down, it will just disappear.
Here's another example:
They say we are in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
What this means is that 'labor' is gradually disappearing.
So what on earth are we going to do with the time we had to work that is now free?
Ultimately, humans must redraw the map of perception.
People need to dissect themselves and reflect on themselves.
And we also need to build new relationships with others.
So what do we need then? Words and writing.
I believe this can become everyone's vision, because I believe that speech and writing are the most universal mediums through which we can reflect on ourselves and connect with others.
Should we just leave this important task to the elites and follow suit? There's no need for that.
Everyone must find a way to become the master of their own life, and these things are coming together like this to create a new, boundless universe. This is perhaps the new model of life brought about by the digital revolution. In that case, the most important thing is the ability to create, coordinate, and communicate through words and writing.
In that respect, I think it is time to revisit the ‘ontology of writing.’
2.
In relation to the previous question, please tell me how writing can be a way to ‘health, seek enlightenment, and earn a living.’
The key to good health is to harmoniously communicate the energy of my body, the spirit and vital energy, with the energy of nature outside my body.
Energy varies from person to person, from region to region, and from season to season.
With all this volatility, what should we do? To create a smooth communication environment, we need to focus.
The problem is how to maintain 'concentration', and 'concentration' and 'obsession' should not be confused.
'Obsession' is the body's desire, pouring energy into one specific thing.
What happens then? Communication with others is cut off.
Then your body will be ruined.
Concentration is the ability to gather energy from your entire body.
When this ability declines, a person's body and mind are always scattered.
We always try to distract ourselves. (Laughs) If you try to do something with one mind, it's actually difficult to do it for even a minute.
I feel that way every moment.
So, I definitely understand what the phrase 'get your act together' means.
If you miss that, you'll feel like you're just floating around all day.
So, you have to 'concentrate', and to do this, your energy has to go down to the bottom of your body and hold on tight.
But if it rises and floats around? Then that's 'addiction'.
The state of coming down and exerting strength to hold on is called 'su seung hwa gang' in epidemiology.
Activities such as meditation, prayer, and prostration are meant to create that state.
Such activities should be incorporated into our daily lives.
But what activities can ordinary people, not "practitioners," do? Reading and writing.
This job is absolutely not addictive.
Are you addicted to reading? No one is.
You can become addicted to a certain genre.
However, if you give such a person the Buddhist scriptures or the Book of Changes, he will never become addicted.
Can you become addicted to Spinoza's Ethics? It's impossible.
Are you addicted to writing? That can happen if you don't know what you're saying.
We cannot become addicted to reflecting on our lives and the world through writing.
When you write like that, your whole body gathers energy and becomes focused.
There is nothing better than this for health.
I think the best way to gather your body and mind is to read first, and then write.
Next, ‘composition’ is looking at one’s life in the long term.
It is about looking at one's own life and death, and the core of it is life and death, and ultimately 'death'.
'How do we interpret death?' That's the key.
Death is 'absolute'.
The question is how you view this while you are alive.
If you just live, you won't see it.
That's why you have to study by reading books, observing what other people thought, applying it to your own life, and so on.
If we do that, we will eventually reach the point 2600 years ago that Karen Armstrong called the "Axial Age."
It was the era in which Socrates, Confucius, Laozi, and Buddha appeared.
Their topic is also 'death'.
How should we interpret 'death'?
Even if I die, life goes on.
Whether you call it 'history', 'cosmic cycle', or 'immortality of the soul', there has to be an interpretation of it.
There is no right answer.
Because there is no right answer, we keep searching.
That's the 'structure'.
There is an 'answer', and going to find it is not a 'quest'.
The act of holding on to a fundamental question and continuing to move toward the horizon is 'composition'.
It is when we walk that path that humans are saved.
Realizing that life and death are ultimately connected, practicing death while falling asleep comfortably, and ultimately being able to accept one's own death with composure, and thus affirming one's life - that is the way of salvation.
As for earning a living, I didn't become a professor even though I got my PhD.
It's been about 20 years since I started living as a middle-aged unemployed person.
You've been eating well and living well, haven't you? So how did you manage to eat well and live well? You read books, you write.
Because I write, I am able to read a variety of books.
Many people were able to unite through reading and writing within the community.
When study and people come together, food is created.
This is a law as certain as scientific principles.
Give it a try.
We gather to study, and we study together, but we never go hungry.
Isn't politics, industry, and the economy all about connecting people? They all make a living from that.
But in a way, those things are very temporary.
When I had a company, and when I was a member of the National Assembly, things like that.
However, because reading and writing are universal activities that humanity will have to do forever, in some ways they are a very stable foundation for making a living.
My life is proof of that.
And with this good foundation, it would be nice if people could walk together on the road, so a network was formed and that's how we got here.
People who came to this network quit their jobs, came to write, gave lectures, and were able to make a good living.
However, you should not mistake eating well and living well for being socially successful and so on.
What that means is that it's a way to make a living that's truly useful to yourself and beneficial to others.
It's not about making money by deceiving others, or being addicted to making money itself and making more money than necessary.
Then 'alienation' occurs.
However, the act of reading and writing is beneficial to me and to others, so it is honorable.
The food and money I earn that way keep me healthy, and if there's any leftover, I think about how to share it.
Is there any other job like this?
3.
It is often said that to write well, you need to read a lot.
So, there are quite a few books that talk about the importance of writing and reading together.
However, the teacher goes further and says, “Writing is an extension, a reversal, and a leap forward from reading,” and insists, “If you read, you must write.”
Please tell me why writing is a leap forward in reading and why reading should lead to writing.
This is a very important point.
In the past, just reading a book was a huge leap forward because books were not accessible.
But now everyone has access to books.
There are libraries everywhere, and they are overflowing with books.
And also, the level of education has increased significantly.
So, in fact, I am reading enough.
But, the fact that so many people have read this much means that they should all be able to write something, but this is not happening.
Amazingly.
I really wondered about that.
If you don't write, your reading will become impoverished.
Because you can't go beyond a certain level.
Reading is your hobby? Then, hobbies should be enjoyable.
Then I will only read books that make me happy and comfortable.
It is not easy to produce something by only reading such books.
There are limits to how much awareness can expand.
Because it's fun, it keeps my emotions engaged.
'I just have to read.' Then, the scope of reading will not go beyond the framework established by authors and scholars, and in fact, there will be no thought of breaking away from it.
I diligently read and listen to books and lectures written by other people.
This is actually an edited version.
But let's say we learn something from it.
This is actually very important too.
But the knowledge gained in this way is extremely rare.
When I try to apply that to my life, what should I say, it becomes so faint that it doesn't even add up to a handful.
Outside the realm of such reading and lectures, there is an abundance of all kinds of fancy products and services created by capital.
They have extremely powerful powers.
But let's say you listen to the lectures, read the book, and your awareness expands and your thinking broadens.
But what about life? I still indulge in shopping and all sorts of other addictive things.
It's not easy to gather the strength to change your daily life by simply reading and listening to lectures.
And today, young people enjoy vastly expanded educational opportunities, yet they still go around shouting, "Who am I? Where am I?"
Why do people say they don't know how to live? What exactly is college? Education is supposed to give you the ability to find your own path in life.
But, they can't become independent from their parents, they can't rebel against society or offer alternatives, and their lives are just unsettled.
Why on earth did this happen? It's been decades since we've been blaming the capitalist order and materialism for the problem.
The ‘foundation’ has not changed.
So what is that "foundation"? It's not "jobs."
I didn't learn 'writing' in college.
write.
It is because you have not become the ‘writing subject’.
When you write, you speak.
If I'm going to speak in front of someone, I need to be able to write.
There are clear limitations to simply reading and consuming books.
If I read a book and it's really difficult, I just put it down.
And I get a really bad feeling.
"Reading is harmful." (Laughs) But what if I become the "writer"? I'm moved when I read a difficult book.
I wondered, ‘How much did this person have to suffer to write such a difficult book?’
When I read a book like Foucault's "The Word and the Thing," I feel both respect and hostility toward him.
However, this feeling and belief that 'I will read to the end' arises.
What happens if you pass this process?
Your reading muscles will grow significantly.
For example, it's like mountain climbing.
They say that after walking around Namsan every day, they went to Dobongsan.
The point where you go to Jaunbong Peak on Mt. Dobong is extremely difficult.
That's not fun.
It's hard.
But I believe it.
When I get past this point, I gain power.
And then there's freedom.
Because freedom comes from ability.
You have to go there to know.
So, when I write, I feel like I want to follow the paths of thought of Nietzsche, Spinoza, Foucault, Buddhism, and the Book of Changes.
What happens if you don't use it? You'll end up complaining all the time about how difficult it is.
Then you will only read books that are not difficult.
Continuing to reinforce my stereotypes and common sense.
Otherwise, it would be 'what's the point of doing this?'
So writing is plagued by a number of problems.
Education issues, youth issues, etc.
Why doesn't education focus on fostering the ability to create language on one's own? If it did, writing would be required throughout college.
Regardless of what your major is, whether it's liberal arts, science, medicine, or engineering, you train yourself to recognize how your studies connect to your life.
This is actually the core of intelligence.
If you have this solid foundation, you can confidently and proudly make choices about what job you want to pursue when you enter society with your specialized knowledge.
Because this is not trained, it ends up wandering.
It's the same even when you're middle-aged.
Life is so meaningless, and I don't know how to live anymore.
A lot of middle-aged people come to ‘Gamidang’ where I work.
They are very socially successful people.
But I don't know how to live my life, and I don't know how to structure my life.
Even though it is not an ordinary thing to succeed in business.
Even though I have to lead and guide young people, my concerns are the same as theirs.
So what should I do about this? I have to read a book.
When reading a book, you should not just read, but read as a ‘writing being.’
You're connecting with the greatest minds in humanity.
If I weren't a writer, how far would I have read?
I don't think it would have gone any further than what I was doing in graduate school.
But because I had to write, because I had to produce, because I had to keep applying it to my life, I ended up reading books like Donguibogam.
And now I'm reading the Book of Changes and Buddhist scriptures.
When I look at books like that, I can't believe that such books came out 2,600 years ago.
So, what I'm saying is that human intelligence has already reached that point thousands of years ago.
But why do we have to repeat these shallow, and in some ways, deeply adolescent, emotions when the ocean is already out there?
In the end, you have to become a writer and connect to it.
Then something like going to Switzerland, where Nietzsche wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra, happens.
Even if we take 『Yeolha Diary』 as an example, it is the same.
My life was turned around by 『Yeolha Diary』, and I read it because I had to write about Yeonam.
At that time, there were no popular translations like there are now, and since they were translations by experts, they were not written in the Korean we use today.
Even though it was that kind of book, I got sucked into it.
As I read it, I realized that it was very profound and interesting.
The same goes for 『Im Kkeok-jeong』.
If I weren't the one writing it, I think I would have read it three times.
I read it because I had to write it, and it made me want to swim in it.
This is the leap from 'writing' to 'reading'.
If you don't write, you'll never improve your reading.
4.
In Part 2, Practical, we were able to get a glimpse into how writing-related activities are carried out at the Gami Dang where the teacher works.
Could you please explain in more detail how writing-related activities have been and are currently taking place in the community?
About eight years ago, one of the mottos put forth by Gamidang was ‘practicing writing.’
So, (the community) started out with the goal of ‘writing training.’
So, if I were to introduce the subjects taught in 'Public Intelligence' (among the programs run by Gamidang), there are three subjects: epidemiology, which deals with 'the body and the universe'; a subject that recites various texts; and writing.
One day a week, I study those three subjects.
The 'Public Intelligence' program, which covers these three subjects, is run over four semesters: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
But then one day, I heard a rumor that the 'Popular Intelligence' program was incredibly difficult.
I only do it once a week, and I wondered why.
When I looked closely, I realized that it wasn't the class that was difficult, but rather the writing that was difficult.
It's not like you have to present every time, but you have to do an 8-week course and present an essay once.
Is it really that hard to use one per season? When I use it, it almost feels like a battlefield.
When I think about why that is, it's not that writing is difficult, but rather because I've never used the rhythm of my body in that way.
When we learn a new exercise, it's all difficult at first.
Because you have to use muscles you haven't used before.
But once you get the basics down, it becomes natural.
It's the same thing.
Even though I was screaming and struggling so much, I kept going.
It's a bit more diverse and a bit more difficult now.
For example, there were times when I stayed up all night giving presentations, and the next morning, people's expressions were so bright.
There are no awards or fancy after-parties.
There is no compensation.
But everyone is so proud.
What's the reason for this satisfaction? The core of it is that I've drawn a map of my life in my own words.
The sense of fulfillment this gives is incomparable to anything else.
However, the problem is that the 'Popular Intelligence' program is run on different days of the week and runs for a year, so there are people who cannot access these long-term programs.
If you miss it once, you have to wait another year to participate.
So, I opened up a number of short-term writing classes.
But there, we also ran a program where we wrote reviews, essays, travel stories, etc.
That's where I learned it again.
I have a strong desire to write.
I have once again confirmed that people like to produce things themselves rather than listen to others.
This is nature.
It's more important to take one step than to watch someone else take a thousand steps.
This is the command of existence.
When you write, you can speak to people.
The reason I've been able to make a living by writing is partly because of the community, and partly because the humanities space outside of universities has opened up significantly since around 2008.
The environmental impact is also significant.
The erosion of capital has become massive, and stable jobs are disappearing.
The state of being jobless and homeless has expanded.
Is this necessarily a bad thing? Paradoxically, it's actually increased people's available time.
Libraries have sprung up all over the place.
Even in 2003, when I published “Yeolha Diary: A Pleasant Space-Time of Laughter and Paradox” and was giving lectures, all of those libraries were under construction.
All those libraries were built.
But these libraries are in really cool places.
Digital libraries are being built in rural areas, and in cities, they are being built in spaces with forests or parks.
That kind of space has opened up.
This means that a space for 'lifelong learning' is opened up for free.
It's not just the library.
There are many programs available for studying humanities at district offices and local governments.
After giving lectures for over 20 years, I can say that.
So people gather in that open space.
So what should be there? There should be a learning program.
And there has to be an instructor.
From 2008 onwards, I started to get busier and busier.
That's not all.
I also receive many requests for lectures from private companies.
We also receive requests from places like teacher training and civil servant training.
Who should be in charge of all these lectures? Those who actually host these lectures often say, "We've already called everyone we need, so we don't know who to call."
In the future, we will need a lot of instructor pool in this area.
So, that's what we study at Gamidang.
'Write, and then lecture.'
So, when you write and reach a certain level, you are given the opportunity to give lectures.
It gives you a chance for a kind of self-training.
So, I hope that each person will create their own network in the space they want to be active in, whether it be their own region or their own generation.
That is the vision of Gamidang.
5.
Part 2, Practical, provides specific advice on four genres of writing (columns, reviews, essays, and travelogues).
If there are any key characteristics of each of the four writing styles, could you please elaborate on them?
And, if there is a universal principle of writing that runs through all genres, what would it be?
The 'Practical Edition' is based on a recording of my lecture at Gamidang.
The lectures were held in 8- or 10-week units.
The lectures were conducted in groups, with tutors supervising each group.
If we go on like this, there will be almost no dropouts.
It's the same principle as climbing a mountain together, encouraging each other and climbing together until the end.
That's why Gamidang considers group activities very important.
Writing a column is, above all, about capturing the essence of your thoughts, combined with social issues, on a single page.
This is something that cannot be done without training.
It shouldn't be written as a mere commentary on society.
We need to think about how social phenomena pass through our bodies, how they connect to our daily lives, and thus how they dominate or guide us.
In other words, there must be a sense of problem.
That's the point.
Reviews, book reviews—how many book reviews are there in the world? But if you just write them as sentimental comments, you loosen your connection to the book significantly.
When writing a review, it's important to focus on selecting a book, and then on reading it.
You should read it at least three times.
It is usually a misconception that you know a book by reading it the first time.
No matter how easy a book is, you have to read it at least three times.
You absolutely must read it at least three times and write a two-page review.
So how do I do that? First, I need to have a story.
If you read a book and tell a story to someone, you have to create a storyline.
This is training.
When I can't think of what to say, I just read a book and sleep.
Actually, this also really creates chemistry.
You might not believe it, but it's true. (Laughs) Anyway, you can't do it half-heartedly.
Above all, this is a practice of building ‘relationships’.
Even in relationships with people, if you do things sloppily, you'll end up with a mountain of embarrassing things later.
The same goes for books.
So, writing reviews is training how to relate to books and how to relate to others.
Next, the essay is about philosophy.
The essay itself is a philosophy.
Is there anyone who doesn't practice philosophy? How can one live without philosophy?
Among the spirits of energy, the spirit is the realm of philosophy.
It's about setting a direction for life, deciding, 'This is how I want to live.'
This is a must have.
You have to become the philosopher of your own life.
Ontology, and the perception of the world, and even the direction of ethics.
An essay is the process of writing it.
Travelogue: These days, a lot of people travel.
When you come back from a trip, all kinds of meanings should pour out.
These days, photos are pouring in.
And the folders keep growing.
And then soon you fall into loneliness.
Instead, the story should be created along with the photos.
So, the travel writing class was a process of learning how to create a story by looking at the world's best travel writing, 『Yeolha Diary』.
What about when you go on a trip? You shouldn't be afraid of "incidents."
Where is the meaning? It's right there in the 'event.'
Each person wrote their own travelogue, and the basic text was 『Yeolha Diary』. It was full of events and stories, so I wrote with reference to that.
Even within these completely different writing genres, the principle remains the same.
'Keep order and make a difference.' This is the fundamental principle that runs through all writing.
The word 'chaseo' combines the two words 'time difference' and 'space order'.
It's the flow of time and space.
Everything goes in stages, like spring, summer, fall, and winter.
It's the same with love.
It comes in like a spring breeze and goes out like an autumn breeze.
And then comes the long, long winter.
It's time to go back to the seeds.
The same goes for business and writing.
All these processes must be followed to leave no surplus to the person.
If you stop using it, you feel uneasy and your back gets sore.
The power of writing is to give ‘a sense of direction’.
There is a beginning, development, turn, and conclusion.
Spring is qi, rising, summer is victory, unfolding, fall is jeon, transition, overturn, ending… .
As the curtain falls on the grand finale, it must lead to another path.
This is neverending.
Because time and space never stop.
If I start writing with this in mind, not only will my writing improve, but I will also be able to apply this to my life.
People don't have much room for things that have a clear introduction, development, turn, and conclusion.
This is the key.
Whether it's a column, a review, or a travelogue, there has to be a sequence.
You can use this freely, presenting the conclusion first in the beginning and then unfolding it one by one in the middle, but this is something you can use after learning the basics.
Because life can also begin in winter.
Or maybe life begins in the middle of a burning flame in midsummer.
But we have to go through these steps again.
In the end.
That's one key point.
So, this is something that everyone needs to learn in common.
Then there must be individual differences.
You have to grab the car, and then you have to create a difference.
What this means is that your own unique sense, emotion, and ethics must be included in the sentence.
Why do we find textbooks and principals' lectures boring? Because there's no difference.
When I hear such words or writing, I immediately get bored.
But even though we experience spring every year, it is never the same.
That's why we don't say we're bored when spring comes.
Ah, spring has come again, I say, welcoming it.
When leaves fall in autumn, it feels like it's the first time.
Because no two fallen leaves are the same.
Neither the wild grasses that bloom in spring nor the leaves that fall in autumn are ever the same at any given moment.
The newness it gives, that's what's important.
The same goes for our language.
You can never write the same sentence in a text.
Unless I copy it, I can't use the same sentences I wrote.
It's only possible at that moment.
But how can it be the same as other people?
Unless we quote proverbs, use platitudes, clichés, or other such things that are often used, the same sentence cannot be made.
Even if our souls communicate, we cannot write the same sentences.
So, to create this difference, this difference, your own individuality must be alive.
But we are erasing our own individuality.
Especially because we are driven by the desire for a huge product, we end up saying the same thing and telling the same story, so it gets boring and we gradually stop talking.
If you watch a movie and talk about it in an interesting way, it's more fun.
Than watching a movie.
So for this to survive, I have to avoid getting swept up in those products or trends.
The characteristic of a product or trend is that it makes it lack individuality.
That way, the crowd will be swept up and start buying things.
Because individuality is key.
If you don't get swept up in it, your own individuality will live on.
But this is something that no one else can know and a teacher cannot coach you on.
This is your personality, it is impossible to do this, so this is really solely yours.
In that sense, the core of writing is to 'give order and create difference', regardless of the type of writing.
In a way, giving a title is an awareness of common sense and universal emotions, and connecting with those emotions opens the way to communication with others.
However, when creating a difference, my uniqueness and impact must be given.
Then, people will feel the joy of discovering a new language, a new path, something like that.
Isn't it simple? Just remember to assign a number and generate a difference. ^^
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: November 15, 2019
- Page count, weight, size: 320 pages | 422g | 132*200*18mm
- ISBN13: 9791190351058
- ISBN10: 1190351056
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