Class 1 One day, loneliness suddenly came to me.

I decided to break down
The twenty-year-old me to the fifty-year-old me
A gift for my daughter, solving a long-standing homework problem.
Plowing the field
To defeat a little better
Gone with the Wind
The days I suddenly look back on comfort me.
When you feel like you're not good at self-care

Class 2 out of the line, it can't be all good, but it's okay

Loneliness is a constant in life
The country thrives when people in their 50s play.
In the age of overtaking, there are no role models.
For a small but certain sense of accomplishment
Retirement, it may not be good, but it will be okay.
Give me more strength while my body and mind are still strong
The saying that when things are tough, try something
Always remember the sun above your head
Self-care when you feel anxious

Class 3: Loneliness Class, a time to reconcile with everything

Leave the wounds that weren't my fault there.
What to do when self-esteem doesn't work
This is essential for a meaningful life!
5 Questions You Must Ask Yourself in Life
I see myself as I want to be rather than as I should be.
It's annoying, but let's try to be happy
Turn off your smartphone and climb the mountain
Don't feel guilty about being helpless
About Very Slow Suicide
When you are not confident that you can do self-care

Class 4 Retirement: Small Preparations for Loneliness

He has the freedom to hate me.
Freedom of time, some income
Even if you can't make money, you can make time.
Bucket lists start with things you can do right away.
Life's Budget: Take a Look at Your Spending
If you want to live a fun life until you die
Introducing a friend to visit when you're lonely.
Things I can do as I please
When your heart closes because you don't want to get hurt

Class 5 When I called first, loneliness became a flower

Sometimes, be proactive and be alone.
When you keep your promise to "Let's have a meal together!"
I want to fill my life with loving people.
It doesn't have to be sticky, it's okay to be loose
Happiness comes from small gaps and frequency.
Doom Spiro Spero, as long as you breathe, there is hope.
A journey that begins slowly and gradually
Travel is a beauty that you discover on your own.
Self-studying loneliness practice

Class 6 Life is about surfing the waves on your own surfboard.

Just go further slowly
A blind person I met on a snowy day
So that your heart does not become distorted by pain
You are also someone's worry
The Piano and the Toilet: The Joy of Living Differently
Laughing often and a lot is success
If you expect it to be "not bad," you can do anything.
Zumba said, be kind to yourself.
Life is about surfing the waves on your own surfboard.
What kind of wave will I ride today?

Epilogue: When loneliness comes, say hello.

“One day, loneliness suddenly came to me.”
Loneliness, a time to answer the questions life poses

What's the difference between loneliness and solitude? Solitude is the state of being alone, while solitude refers to the feeling of loneliness experienced when alone.
In other words, loneliness is an emotional issue, so being alone does not necessarily mean you are lonely.
Conversely, being in a group doesn't mean you won't be lonely.
Scientifically, humans have evolved to feel loneliness.
This is because people with weak physical strength are more easily exposed to danger when acting alone.
It is said that modern people instinctively feel lonely even after being alone for just five minutes and ask themselves, "Do I have any value?"
If left untreated, it can lead to apathy and depression, emotional problems, and even addiction to alcohol or drugs, leading to death.
Loneliness, which was an essential element of survival in primitive times, has become a problem directly related to survival in another way in today's advanced civilization.

Virginia Woolf said, “When we are alone, we become passionately interested in our lives, in our memories, in the little things around us.”
Paradoxically, we need time alone and solitude to live richer and more fulfilling lives.
If one day you suddenly feel lonely, it is a warning signal from life and a call to live more firmly.


Producer Kim Min-sik, a former MBC drama producer and bestselling author with 250,000 readers, has built a reputation.
In a column he wrote for the Hankyoreh newspaper in 2020, he was harshly criticized for justifying his father's violence.
He had no intention of doing so, as he himself was a victim of domestic violence.
I could have gathered my side and put up a shield, but my belief that the completion of a piece lies in the reader's interpretation made me put everything aside.
Along with an apology, he stopped writing his newspaper column for several years and voluntarily resigned from MBC, the company he had worked for for 24 years.
I closed down the social media that I used to communicate with the public and also closed down the blog that I had written on a daily basis for 10 years.
I even lost contact with people and became completely lonely.
During this time of self-imposed confinement, everything felt unfamiliar.
At the age of fifty, unemployed, unprepared for retirement… he felt lost and afraid, but instead he asked himself, ‘How should I live from now on?’
In the tunnel of loneliness, I slowly found my own answer.


“I spent two years in seclusion, reading books and walking.
It was a little lonely and desolate, but as I kept asking myself, "How should I live?", it passed by in a flash.
Now that we live to be 100 years old, how can we endure the loneliness that will grow longer?
I compiled the questions and answers I asked myself into a book.
“It is a precious lesson that loneliness has taught me, even though it is lacking and insufficient.” (Author’s Note)

“I am living well!”
Loneliness, a time to look back on past wounds and find courage again

In Berber's novel, Papillon, there is a story about day and night vision.
We usually think we see farther distances during the day, but at night we can see stars that are millions of kilometers away.
The night is soon loneliness.
Let's turn inward and reflect on the past.
The time of reflection and healing ultimately encourages us to live again.
If we don't try to push away loneliness by viewing it as an uncomfortable and wrong emotion.


During this time of isolation, PD Kim Min-sik had to face his past wounds again.
Childhood violence from his father, bullying, appearance complex, severe inferiority complex, etc.
As I looked back on the things I believed were okay, I realized that it was the pain that brought me to where I am today.
A child who cried because of his father's violence, a teenage boy who was bullied, a young man who was always intimidated by an inferiority complex about his appearance, and who despaired of ever being able to get a job because he was stupid...
All of those 'me's' were Kim Min-sik.
(No, but didn't he succeed in becoming an English simultaneous interpreter even though he got a D+ in English?) Remembering the words he had blurted out one day, "When my life was at rock bottom, I soared," he realized that loneliness is an emotion that often visits us in our lives.
And now I have a feeling that if I let go of this loneliness, another new path will open up.


“I was very lonely.
I was also afraid of meeting people.
Who do I talk to when I'm lonely and struggling? My teenage self, my twenties.
I imagined myself as an 80-year-old man.
“I talked to them and looked into their struggles in life” (Author’s Note)

His confession is unadorned.
It's as affectionate as speaking to a childhood friend.
On the one hand, as I follow along with a heavy heart, I come to recognize that only when I calmly face the loneliness that comes my way can I meet a 'me' that has grown and changed.


The 2030 generation needs to have a 'strong attitude towards life that is cultivated alone'
The 5060 generation needs ‘comfort and realistic solutions’ for the uncertain future.

PD Kim Min-sik created hit dramas such as “New Nonstop” and “My Secret Terrius.”
He has published bestsellers in various fields, including reading, travel, writing, and English education, such as 『All My Habits Were Formed Through Travel』, 『Have You Tried Writing Every Morning?』, and 『Have You Tried Memorizing an English Book?』, reaching both young and middle-aged generations.
Especially, as I spent my youth feeling discouraged by an inferiority complex, I support young people more passionately than anyone else.
As I live, I realize that being young doesn't mean you won't be lonely.
The younger generation, who have not achieved much socially, may feel more alienated and lonely.
To them, the author tells them, "Don't feel guilty about your helplessness," "Look at the person you want to be rather than the person you should be," and "Others have the freedom to hate you."
I acknowledge that I am shabby and dissatisfied, and I confidently ask myself to go my own way, saying, “Okay, this is me. What can I do?”


The 5060 generation, a generation that is socially withdrawing, also comes to the author with affection.
Because he himself is living in the same time.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and the implementation of social distancing, gatherings disappeared and encounters decreased.
The routine of running forward without looking back has been shaken, and the future is uncertain in the face of the unfamiliar reality that has suddenly arrived, such as artificial intelligence and big data.
In an era where people live to be 100, how will we face the long old age?
In an age where everyone is becoming lonely, he suggests changing our attitude toward loneliness.
If loneliness is viewed only as suffering, individuals will become unhappy and society will become barren.
Is there any way to make loneliness enjoyable?
Two years of thinking are contained in this book.
He gives courage by saying, "Retirement isn't always good, but it's okay once you try it," and reminds people of how to build relationships by saying, "I'll be the first to keep my promise to have a meal together."
In the realistic alternative of 'Let's start with the things that can be accomplished immediately on the bucket list', we do not forget the warm comfort of 'Just leave the wounds that are not your fault there'.
Above all, the author's message to the 5060 generation is to not worry about what others think and always take on new challenges!

“I only live once, I live my life myself, no one else will live it for me.
If there's something you want to do, regardless of what others say, you should try it.
I can't know what I can or can't do unless I try it myself.
If you have any shortcomings, you can improve by studying to make up for them.
In the age of 100, we need to do something even when we are 70 or 80.
Because the world keeps changing.
If you want to continue doing what you want, you have to keep learning and challenging yourself.
Let's not expect people around us to support our dreams and challenges.
“It will undoubtedly be a lonely challenge, but if you want to give yourself another chance after living your life swayed by the world’s desires, you must be prepared to endure the loneliness.” (From “Give Me More Strength While Your Body and Mind Are Still Fresh”)

Loneliness, knowing the direction of life clearly
Don't get lost

PD Kim Min-sik tells a story about filming with actor Daniel Henney while directing the entertainment program “Exclamation Point!”
Daniel Henney disappeared on the first morning of filming in Lawak, Philippines.
There was chaos.
It was so remote that all I could see were rice paddies and fields, and I was anxious about where they had gone.
It turns out that Daniel Henney woke up at dawn and went jogging for two hours.
He asked.


“No, what if you get lost in a foreign land, thousands of miles away?”
“No matter where you go, if you leave your accommodation and drive in one direction for an hour, then turn around and return in that direction, you won’t get lost.”

Hennie said she jogs every single day without fail.
Even while filming, he played catch and always had exercise equipment in his hand.
When I asked him when he started liking sports, he replied that it was because he didn't want to be looked down on by kids who teased him for being a person of color in school. That brief conversation that day stayed with me for a long time.
The "One-Way Rule" for Safe Jogging! Even if you're caught up in negative emotions when life gets tough, it's okay to just return to the starting point.
Perhaps this book is PD Kim Min-sik's own rule of returning to the starting point.
But in the vast ocean of life, we each have our own surfboard and just ride the waves.
But once you know the trick, it becomes a little easier and more enjoyable, right?
Now, we are releasing 'Producer Kim Min-sik's Life Surfing Story' to the world.


* From PD Kim Min-sik's 50 Guides to Life's Loneliness *

- Isn't it okay to lose in style sometimes?
- I feel a little less lonely when I immerse myself in something I like.
- Think about it carefully.
Aren't you living by someone else's clock?
- Be indifferent to things you don't need to know.
-Turn your gaze to a place you haven't seen before.
You will encounter new emotions.
- Don't ruin the day of those around you with your self-deprecation.
I'm getting sicker too.
- Let's move forward with the engine of dreams and aspirations rather than the brake of self-censorship.
- If you can't think of what you want to do right away, try walking first.

- The way to get revenge on those who hate me is to show them that I can live happily too.
- There are always people by my side who watch over me and recognize my strengths.
- Don't view lethargy and loneliness as a will to overcome.
It's time to pause! Take your time.


Author's Note

I chose solitude to silence the delusions that were barking loudly in my head.
I decided to quit my job, delete my social media apps, close my blog, and become desperately lonely.
It was only when I became lonely that I finally saw myself.
Oh, how pitiful I am.
I felt so sorry for people who hated and resented me, and for me to resent them too.
So I decided to take care of myself.
I repeated my favorite thing every day.
I read the books I wanted to read and walked the path I wanted to walk.
That's fortunate.
When I go to the library, there's always a book I want to read, and when I go out, new scenery greets me every day.
When loneliness comes, tell me you're happy.
Now is the time to love myself completely.
I was so concerned about what others thought and was swayed by the world's judgment that I forgot about myself, but then that very me came looking for myself.
Now take care of me.