The Healing Season of Pottery

The first smile of the day was important. It determined how the dozens of others that day would turn out.

You just need to make them again, and again. That's why I'm not bothered when my pieces crack or break. Because I'm going to keep on making more. Whether it's pottery or life, it takes more than one attempt for them to come out right. And all that effort makes the end product more valuable, too.

Don’t try to be perfect, just think about getting sixty per cent of the way there. No more, no less, just sixty per cent.

Was there anything as cruel as neglecting her own emotions? Was there anything as violent as betraying your own heart?

Being unwell was like being given a license to rest a little longer. Now, however, Jungmin required no permission for a 'pause.' It was her decision how long she would rest for and when she would get back up on her feet again. Perhaps it was only when a person became able to choose to take time off and set their own pace that they'd truly grown up.

Firing pottery is like lighting a fire in your heart.

The more you train yourself to notice your happiness, the more it becomes yours.

Whether it’s pottery or life, it takes more than one attempt for them to come out right. And all that effort makes the end product more valuable, too.

you who will, like pottery, fire your life slowly, and yet with great passion.

So that I could be happy right where I am, I decided to do things ‘in moderation.’ So that I can look after myself and those I care about, I work at a moderately busy workplace, earn a moderate wage, have fun in moderation.… People look at me and say I lack ambition. But isn’t ‘moderation’ the greatest ambition we can have? I’m being really ambitious in trying to stay happy and within the lines of moderation. It’s about choice.

Later on, she realized that—much like the staff members she'd met at the jokbal place as a young girl—she'd chosen this work to become pitiful, but she didn't care. Rather than getting hung up on her insufficient talent and living in false hope, she was more at ease becoming someone overworked, someone to feel sorry for.

Be even greedier if you want. Happiness is enjoyed by the ones who’ve already experienced it. So make the most of it. The more you train yourself to notice your happiness, the more it becomes yours.

Firing pottery is like lighting a fire in your heart. There might be something inside that you’re trying your best to ignore, but it’s only by turning your gaze toward it that you can see it clearly.

So no matter whose decision it is, go with the flow. Only then will you master how to row the boat.

You’ll make plenty of choices in your life. So don’t be too hasty to judge the decisions you make now. Keep going, and a way will open up for you. Meanwhile, don’t be afraid of disappointing anyone, and be bold when you change direction. In my experience… perhaps the sooner you disappoint your parents, the better.

it’s okay to let go. When you wear all those spikes like a hedgehog and keep everyone at a distance, in the end it’s only you who suffers.

I guess there are some things that no matter how hard you try, you just won’t get.

Maybe you’re in too much of a rush. You’re trying to get your zest for life back by doing something, anything, as quickly as possible, but clay is such a slow material. Maybe it’s this gap in speed and expectations that’s made you lose your way.

You’re not just imagining it. Positive thinking isn’t possible on an empty stomach.

That’s between you and me. I’m thirty years old and still haven’t made peace with my parents. With families, there’ll always be things you clash on, and some things you can’t understand. Just because you’re related, doesn’t mean you have to love each other. If you don’t like them, you can say so, even if you just say it when no one’s around. Or to me.

Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean you’ll like it.

Hundreds of thousands of won kept vanishing with the simple act of breathing. It was as if each month she was being charged just to carry on living.

Wrong answer. It comes from the hanja ‘so’ (), meaning to wedge clay, and ‘yo’ (), meaning to fire the clay in the kiln. Exactly what it says. But, as of just now, I’ve decided to include the meaning ‘to take time,’ too. A play on words. I think it’s a great idea.