05 Blessed Are Those Who Give

주는 자가 행복하다

Seoul |

South Korea

Korean

Behind the scenes

I have travelled through many megacities, mainly for work, without ever truly feeling at home. I often find myself both overstimulated externally-noise, light, constant motion-and strangely disoriented internally.

During a stay in Seoul, where I no longer had any familiar reference points, a question emerged: what does it really mean “to give”? Is it a sincere gesture or a social posture? A habit or a deeper impulse?

It was within this contrast between external turmoil and inner questioning that this text was born. I explored a simple idea: happiness does not come only from what we give, but from the alignment between our actions and who we truly are.

Echoes of the world

The Hangul alphabet (한글), created in the 15th century, made written Korean accessible to all.

In Korea, the word jeong (정) describes a deep bond that grows over time through shared experience. It is neither friendship nor love, but a connection that develops slowly, often without being named. From this perspective, giving is not a grand gesture, but the natural expression of a bond that is already alive. Jeong is not something that can be demonstrated-it is something that is lived.

The character 정 combines the sounds j, eo (an open vowel, somewhere between “o” and “u”), and a final ng-a softness that does not translate easily.

Listen to an audio excerpt of the text