“If I didn’t go to South Africa, I wouldn’t have started composing. Their way of life is different than Korea’s, so I had a lot of time. By spending my free time playing piano and listening to music often, I just naturally started to think about composing. It’s been five years since I came back to Korea, and I can’t help but living so busily here. Still, I’m trying to live with peace of mind.”
“What do you do to live so?”
“I just pick a day and do nothing, but I don’t think that you necessarily have to rest for a long time. What’s important is how you rest. You should find things that you can do without thinking or things that you enjoy doing. So people who like games should play games. As for me, I live in a rooftop house, so I play some loud music and go outside. Putting my head back and lying down on a chair with my dog is what resting is for me. People usually meet their friends on their days off, but some people get stressed out when they meet people. But they must have their own way of resting. I’m sure everyone has it, but it’s so easy to forget. That is, your own way of relaxing.“
“남아공에 안 갔으면 작곡을 안 했을 거예요. 생활방식이 한국이랑 달라서 시간이 많았거든요. 피아노도 치고, 음악도 많이 듣고, 여가시간을 그렇게 보내다 보니까 자연스럽게 작곡을 생각하게 됐죠. 한국에 온 지 5년정도 됐는데, 한국에선 어쩔 수 없이 바쁘게 살게 되버리는 경향이 있는 것 같아요. 그래도 여유 있게 살려고 노력해요.”
“어떤 노력을 하시나요?”
“그냥 하루 잡아서 쉬어 버리고 그러는데, 쉬는 게 길 필요는 없다고 생각해요. 어떻게 쉬는 지가 중요한 거죠. 아무 생각없이 쉬면서 할 수 있는 것들, 내가 재미있는 것들을 찾아서 하는 거예요. 게임이 취미인 사람은 게임을 하는 거고요. 저 같은 경우는, 옥탑에 사는데 음악을 크게 틀어 놓고 밖으로 나와요. 강아지랑 같이 의자에 머리 대고 누워있으면 그게 저한테는 쉬는 거예요. 보통 쉬는 날 친구들을 많이 만나지만 친구들을 만나는 게 힘든 사람들도 있잖아요. 그런 사람들은 그들만의 어떤 것들이 있을 거예요. 분명히 누구든 있는데, 쉽게 잊어버리는 것 같아요. 내가 쉬는 법을요.”
I think it’s important to always be kind to people. To just do whatever you can to make someone feel like they are special too. Because isn’t that all that matters in life; the little things? Besides, you never know what someone is going through. I think that the world could seriously change if we would all be a little bit nicer to each other. So, do your best and you’re already anticipating in making the world a better place.