Prologue: What is Life?

Chapter 1.
Trials

Rainy commute/Printer/What the manager does/Hibernation/Movement ability/A certain pattern/Commute home/Proof/Self-serve side dishes/Drunkard/Strange house/Living with a rumbling sound/Small talk/That damn nostalgia/Burdock and water parsley/Negotiator/Move the vanity/Smell of bananas/Road 1/Road 2/Habit 1/Habit 2/Crow/Emergency situation/Conversation with yourself/Cat, I guess/Traces/Happy Punsu/I'm the only one/Something that suits me well/Bangs/Enlightenment/The best me/79+

Chapter 2.
Despair Edition

Where is the pizza?/What kind of repetition?/Fruit flies?/Minimum order amount?/The end of the label?/Moving arrangements?/Freezer?/Smell alarm?/Regret?/Nightmare machine?/A difficult request?/Decision?/A mediocre talent?/King Geunchogo and Everest?/Diary?/Hwangjoga and fruit flies?/The water cycle?/Rock, paper, scissors?/Soap bubbles?/Living as myself?/A stable life?/Don't be too sorry?/A stepping stone called a promise?/A place to entrust your heart?/It might be like a life-size car?/Where is the summit?/Living as much as a bowl?/In the end, you'll forget?/Thanks to a misunderstanding?/Dead end?/Shadow?/The needle in the tongue?/You have to go to know?/Because you're alive?/What is life 1?/What is life 2?/What is life 3

Chapter 3.
The chapter on afflictions

I have to get up/age/meticulousness/taxi/flattery/what is outside work/solution/envious of everything/transformation/holiday plans/human work/giraffe doll/things I dislike/I don't know either/can I do well on my own?/108 worries/god of tidying up/empathy/memories of towels/smell/organizing closets/flies/atrocities/organizing bookshelves/movements/spiders/10,000 won world/loneliness/a chestnut tree/weaknesses/anger/intellectuals/bad guys/the lesson of coffee/tteokbokki from back then/thunder and lightning/getting ready to play/four-leaf clover/scary things/strange world/how to become comfortable/happy moments/trials/hangovers/steadily/when the time comes/countless selves/running away/flowing/that's why/electric wires/dreams/irony/round and round/understanding

Chapter 4.
Humanity Edition

Mission on the way to work/Wrong encounter/Familiar pigeon/The door to Norway/Snow White/Gimbap dispenser/Good thing/Hula hoop/Are you learning piano?/Mother Mole/Cheering is self-help/Pine cone/Happy moment/Bicycle/What kind of affection/Fried egg/As I wish/To my future self/Cheers/Humming while human/Heart/So small/Eating sweet potatoes/Good place/Dandelion/Wild flower/Almond blossom

“Does it seem like I’m living carelessly?
“Living like this is also a strategy of its own.”
- Mr. Dae-dae's life skills of living cleverly without a detailed plan

The writer, who records the lessons of everyday life with outstanding observation and quick wit, has come to readers with a new essay, “Maybe It’s Surprisingly Okay.”
Our daily lives are often disrupted and shaken by unexpected problems and life's challenges.
All kinds of trials and despair, and seemingly never-ending suffering, repeat like a Möbius strip.
Nevertheless, he does not give in and lives bravely by taking life's advice with him.
What I gleaned along the way were not grand philosophies or life advice, but rather practical insights that are necessary for those living in reality.
Insightful sentences gleaned from the depths of life, alongside a warm cartoon, will tenderly comfort you today.
The episodes, captured with a cheerful yet delicate gaze, provide quiet comfort in the weary daily life and the courage to walk again.

To live as my best self
A minimal philosophy of life

Chapter 1, 'Trials', reveals the experience accumulated through various failures and heroic tales.
It conveys that even in situations where you get hit by a piss-pouring due to a mistake and have to carry a vanity table much bigger than your body, you can still understand the way the world works.


In Chapter 2, “Despair,” and Chapter 3, “Affliction,” we practice changing the countless question marks that intervene in life into exclamation points.
Sometimes, trying to do well can end up being a nuisance, and even after making a decision and turning back, I reflect on myself, following the regret that always lingers in a corner of my heart.
His leisurely and ingenious perspective, that worries do not disappear but are put aside for a moment, creates a small gap in the worries we carry.


Chapter 4, “Humanity,” contains moments that are ordinary and simple, but that sustain us.
I hope that by understanding the truth behind twisted words and imagining the circumstances behind rude behavior, the world will become a little less harsh and more generous.


While his previous work captured moments of ordinary daily life with a unique sensibility and cheerful perspective, this book reflects on the critical moments that occur at every crossroads in life.
He also talks about how to live by smiling appropriately and persevering wisely even when life doesn't go as planned.
This is advice for all of us who are somehow surviving today, even if things don't go well and our efforts aren't rewarded.
A quiet encouragement to you who has lost your passion and to everyone who is trying their best to hold on.


There is no one in this world who lives with a perfect manual for life.
Passion doesn't last long, growth doesn't happen as quickly as expected, and even enduring life requires skill.
People only realize this simple truth after their youth is over.
If you sometimes want to let go and live leisurely as if this is your second life, how about this book?
Living like that might be surprisingly okay.