Simple joys

In the book Welcome to The Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, the owner of the bookshop, Yeongju shares with her friend Seungwoo over a cup of tea how she ended a particularly long work day with a beer at a standing bar.

“It was pure bliss to down a beer standing up”, she told Seungwoo.

Seungwoo, who had ordered the quince tea they were sharing, experiences a similar joy when drinking it because it reminds him of the tea he used to have at a restaurant he frequented when he lived in the United States.

“Happiness is never beyond reach,” Yeongju tells Seungwoo. “It’s not in the distant past, nor on the horizon of the future. It’s right in front of me. Like that day’s beer, and today’s quince tea.”

I like to think that even on our most challenging days there are simple joys, either low cost or completely free, that are within reach.

Things like the beer for Yeongju or the quince tea for Seungwoo.

Things like taking a walk outside and smelling the fresh air, drinking an ice cold cup of water on a hot day, or reading a book in silence after a busy day.

In the same way we might prescribe exercise to ourselves in order to be in our best physical shape, I think we should aim to seek these simple joys daily to nourish our spirits.