♣ When you are having a hard time, when you are happy, please open any page.
And let's talk.
Let's talk.
That's how we survive.

--- 「Preface.
From "If we gather even the smallest smiles, we'll be okay!"

♣ When I get home today, our 'Tani' will be so excited that he will run around me five times again.
Sometimes, I feel depressed and anxious for some reason, but I feel comforted and recovered thanks to these people who are so cheerful without any solution.

--- 「Preface.
From "If we gather even the smallest smiles, we'll be okay!"

♣ “Just take a bite.” This is my ‘word of the year.’
Now that I've had dinner, I should go for a walk with Tani, who lives with me.
I wish there were many stars in the sky in my heart, and that my heart would be like a flower garden on a night like this.
And make sure to eat well!
--- 「1.
From "Spring and Rice"

♣ Praise the uniqueness of every flower.
I wholeheartedly support your brilliant individuality.
It's spring.
It's a flower.
It's you.

--- 「1.
From "Spring and Rice"

♣ I am so grateful that I can repay the kindness of those who have been kind to me in my life, even if it is just as much as a pepper planted in a corner.
It's still hot outside.
I hope you have a warm and fluffy night, just like the feeling of the sleeping socks you suddenly received as a gift.

--- 「2.
From "This is how we live"

♣ I cannot turn a blind eye to someone's misfortune and sorrow because it could one day become my own.
Even if I can't fully understand their feelings, I promise to at least try to open my heart and listen.

--- 「2.
From "This is how we live"

♣ Everyone needs at least one person to listen to their story.
Anyone, including me.
Oh, by the way, if there's no such person, I think that's okay too.
Because you just have to listen to yourself.
When I am the first person to listen to my story while crying and laughing, and when I can clearly touch myself, people can feel a little more secure.
I did.

--- 「2.
From "This is how we live"

♣ What does it mean to truly become an adult? Now that I'm this old, I think I understand that the path you've taken as an adult hasn't been smooth sailing.
Everyone, you've all worked hard to become adults.

--- 「3.
From "To You Who Has Had a Hard Time Becoming an Adult"

♣ I think there is at least one person in your heart who is like the cool shade under a maple tree.
If, while reading this, you suddenly think of such a person or such a place, and all of you can smile for a moment, I believe that place is heaven.
I hope that the place where you are now becomes heaven because of you.
--- 「3.
From "To You Who Has Had a Hard Time Becoming an Adult"

♣ When life gets tough and I want to give up, when I'm having a really hard time, someone appears.
It seems like he won't show up, but someone does.
Come here and help.
You don't believe it, do you? I did.

--- 「3.
From "To You Who Has Had a Hard Time Becoming an Adult"

♣ Sometimes I get hurt by what people say, but I also feel like I get healed by people.
I love and am so happy that my job is to make other people smile and be happy.

--- 「4.
Let's go together, let's go together!

♣ When I broke up with someone I loved, the words that gave me the greatest strength and comfort were the words of recognition: “You really liked that person.”
It was the greatest comfort to me when someone truly understood my feelings, and I realized that the pain and hardship I was going through was because my love for that person was real, not fake.

--- 「4.
Let's go together, let's go together!

♣ Now, I would like to add a new and shining meaning to the word ‘countryside’.
I hope that the word "country bumpkin," which refers to people living in rural, fishing, and mountain villages overflowing with warm love, can be registered in the dictionary with a new meaning of "comfortable" and "friendly."

--- 「5.
From “Thank you for being so rustic!”

♣ “Hey! Who gets paid today?” It sounds like a line from a movie, but this is what my friends and I said most often while sitting on the steps of Keimyung College (now Keimyung Culture University) in Daemyeong-dong, Daegu.
There were so many kids living alone, and since they were all students, there was no money.
For us, the anniversary of our death was the day when our parents sent us money from our hometown.
We all had different times when we were well off, but we all knew who was working and when the money would come in.

--- 「6.
From “Thanks to you!”

♣ 'Helping others is helping myself.
'Those who know this and put it into practice are the ones who live truly wisely.' This is what I think these days.

--- 「6.
From “Thanks to you!”

♣ When I said I built a school, someone asked me this.
“Is the name of the school you built ‘Kim Je-dong Elementary School’?” No.
There really is a 'Gimje Dong Elementary School', but sometimes people mistake it for a school I built.
(Laughs) You have to be careful with spacing.

--- 「6.
From “Thanks to you!”

♣ Did you know that in Britain there is actually a 'Minister for Loneliness'?
The name of the department in English is 'The Minister of Loneliness'.
Look it up.
It actually exists.
It's the loneliness you're thinking of.
It's a minister for lonely people.
In Korean, it's called 'Minister of Loneliness.' Seeing this, I thought it would be nice if we had something like that in our country too.
I wanted to be a minister for the first time.
(Laughs) Shouldn't I be the first minister? I'm confident I can secure that position with unanimous support from both the ruling and opposition parties.
(laugh)
--- 「7.
From “Lonely People, Gather!”

♣ My fan club name is 'Peter'.
Just like Peter who denied Jesus three times before dawn, he was given the name because if someone asked him if he was a fan of Kim Je-dong, he would deny it three times.
Other fan club members say, “Don’t mess with my oppa/unnie” when someone badmouths their favorite celebrity, but our fan club members each live their own lives.
Just like when Tani ran away and abandoned me when she met a wild boar in the mountains a while ago.
I think that's a healthy relationship.
(laugh)
--- 「7.
From “Lonely People, Gather!”

♣ “I acknowledge your feelings, but I cannot accept them.” This is a natural right to say when the other person rejects my confession.
So, confess crisply.
Not sticky, but crispy.

--- 「7.
From “Lonely People, Gather!”

♣ If someone were to ask me what generation I want to be remembered for, if I had to answer, I would say this.
'The older generation supporting the younger generation!' I want to be part of that generation.

--- 「8.
“I want to be part of that generation.”

♣ Our depression, our sadness, our moss are all green, and we are also a brilliant purple.
Without the moisture that comes from sadness and tears, all the joy in the world is meaningless.
If my depressed comrades read this, I hope they will embrace, protect, and praise each other's depression.
I hope we can be grateful to them for showing us that sadness and blue are not two different things, that joy and sadness are not opposites but a good match, and that thanks to sadness and sadness, we can become more affectionate toward each other.
I dedicate this writing entirely to the melancholy within me.

--- 「8.
“I want to be part of that generation.”

♣ There may be times when the wind blows and your mind is in turmoil, but I hope that everyone can start spring comfortably.

--- 「8.
“I want to be part of that generation.”