Plain and Simple.

My current company has a benefit that grants a one-month sabbatical after five full years of service. The five years, which seemed like they would never come, finally arrived, and

I finally embarked on the sabbatical I had dreamed of since joining the company.

After about 5 years and 4 months of working, I finally have a whole month-long break, not just a vacation that would typically last a week at most! (Yay!!!)

Before starting my sabbatical, I received many questions from colleagues and people around me,

such as whether I had made plans, what I would do, or where I would travel. “I’m just planning to spend time at my grandmother’s house in the countryside, and then stay in Seoul,” I replied. Perhaps my answer sounded unexciting, because everyone around me reacted similarly, saying things like, “At least go to Jeju Island,” or “A month flies by so fast, you’ll regret it later.”

Originally, I also wanted to spend this precious sabbatical entirely abroad. My dream of living in Spain for a month was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world, but ironically, I feel like not being able to leave might allow me to spend it even more richly. After all, you don’t necessarily have to go to an unfamiliar place to have wonderful and exciting experiences. Just the fact that I can use the hours that make up a day however I want, and fill those hours with things I love, makes me incredibly excited.

We (especially office workers) often fail to realize the preciousness of everyday life. After working from morning till night, constantly on edge, we become exhausted and have no room for peace of mind. As a result, we miss out on so many things. For instance, the scent of the wind changing with the seasons, the ever-shifting shapes of clouds, the laughter of loved ones, or the soft milk foam of a cappuccino. I believe these small things make life rich and warm. And I believe that noticing and appreciating them makes me stronger.

So, I will spend this break exactly that way. I will go through and savor the preciousness of everyday life, one by one, and record and write a lot. It doesn’t matter if it looks boring or unexciting.

On the first day of my break, I tried to be diligent from the morning. Normally, I would have slept in until noon, but I woke up around 9 AM and went to a flower market I had wanted to visit for a long time. I wanted to buy flowers for myself, as a kind of “opening ceremony” for the break, to ensure I’d spend it well.

The scent of flowers suddenly greeted me, and I thought, “I definitely made the right choice coming here!”

Flowers that are beautiful and make you feel good just by looking at them.

Colorful roses and innocent-looking lisianthus caught my eye.

I agonized over which flowers to take home… calla lilies…

In the end, I chose classic roses.

I’ll bring home calla lilies next time!

Back home, I arranged the flowers.

Using scissors, I trimmed off small branches and leaves, adjusted their lengths, and tried to arrange them harmoniously in a vase, but it was harder than I expected.

After some trial and error, it’s finally done!

Both my home and my mood became much brighter. Hehe.

This break, it’s great right from the start :)