🏛️ [The Present,Map of Self,Modern Deficit]
🏛️Chapter 23: Planned Misery-Reasons for Feeling Unhappy
🏛️Why We Become More Miserable Trying to Avoid Misery (Why are we unhappier and more anxious than previous generations, despite enjoying unprecedented wealth and freedom? The reason we are so anxious amid abundance is that we are trying too hard not to be miserable.) ① The Symptom: The Phantom Punishment of “Laziness” When we skip the weekend gym session or spend an entire day lying on the sofa doing absolutely nothing productive, a strange sense of guilt and anxiety creeps in, replacing the sweetness of rest. While we envy the tranquility of others scrolling through their phones in comfort, our own minds wield a relentless whip the moment we are…
🏛️Chapter 22: The Mirage of the Golden Ticket
🏛️Why, exactly, have we allowed college admissions to hold our very souls hostage? (A brutal sprint toward a foggy future ruled by AI, holding an obsolete golden ticket.) [Introduction] Whether in America or Korea, in any nation that sanctifies education, the wall of ‘college entrance exams’ is the most massive and brutal gateway that an entire family must cross together. Having personally passed through that fierce tunnel as a parent, I know its weight better than anyone. Within this colossal race, not only the child but also the parents become fellow examinees. The child’s report card becomes the parents’ report card, and a bizarre psychological synchronization occurs where the child’s…
🏛️Chapter 21: The Sorrow of Poverty
🏛️The most fatal structural flaw hidden behind ‘abundance’and ‘growth,’ Whether it is absolute famine on the other side of the globe or relative destitution amidst abundance, the ultimate purpose of poverty is the desolation of the human soul. [Introduction] Every night through the news, we witness the diverse tragedies of the world. On one side, we hear of children dying with only bones remaining due to starvation in the parched lands of Africa; on the other, the stories of those starving beneath the shadows of glamorous skyscrapers in the world’s wealthiest affluent nations brush past us. Poverty and destitution. This age-old calamity is the most fatal systemic deficit hidden behind…
🏛️Chapter: 20 The Swamp of Oblivion
🏛️Overcoming Alcoholism Alcoholism—Not a failure of will, but the scream of a brain broken while trying to anesthetize reality’s pain. [Introduction] Alcoholism. This issue is a time-honored talking point that has been discussed more than almost any other in human history. Warnings like “Alcohol is the problem” or “Drink in moderation” have become so cliché that they no longer resonate. Yet, the bitter paradox is that despite these countless warnings, the number of alcoholics worldwide never seems to decrease. Exactly what kind of severe anguish, what kind of psychological deficit, keeps driving modern individuals into this inescapable swamp? [A Psychiatric Perspective: Not a Failure of Will, but a Scream of…
🏛️Chapter 19: The Paradox of the Streets -Homeless
🏛️The Paradox of the Street: Streets Turned into Homes for the Homeless (Beyond being housing-less, wanderers of helplessness isolated from all worldly relationships.) [Introduction] Traveling through the states of America or walking through the centers of major cities, we are forced to confront a massive deficit of modern society, whether we want to or not. It is the landscape of the exponentially increasing homeless population. If the homeless of 10 or 20 years ago were simply individuals pushed onto the streets temporarily due to financial bankruptcy, today’s landscape is inherently different. They now wander the city streets, floating like a massive, isolated island. [An Honest Gaze: Fear, Hygiene, and the…
🏛️Chapter 18: The Invisible Wall-The Psychology of Racism Absorbed Unknowingly
🏛️The Wall of Desire to Reject Difference Beyond the fake boundaries of skin color, for the souls who became invisible. [Introduction] We often say that we live in a global era and a multicultural society. Yet, the shadow of racism, still actively twitching deep beneath our skin, reveals a sorrowful deficit in human nature: the drive to exclude the “different.” Neither the vast American society built by all races of the world nor the Korean society that long boasted its ethnic homogeneity is free from this universal darkness. [A Memory of the First Year in a Strange Land: The Mall Manager’s Cowardly Gaze] Long ago, it was our very first…
🏛️Chapter 17: LGBTQ+ community-Authenticity Over Tradition
🏛️Understanding the LGBTQ+ community-The right to shed the given outer shell and live entirely as one’s own soul. [Introduction] Around 2008, Los Angeles, where I lived, was a massive battleground of values. The entire society was boiling over the issue of recognizing same-sex marriage, with public opinion tensely divided, hovering around 40% in statistics. The area where I resided, heavily populated by conservative Christians, was no exception. As someone who attended church every week, I was not yet fully prepared to embrace this sudden wave of change. The wall named ‘tradition’ and ‘faith’ felt far too rigid and immense. [Bewilderment Faced at the Generational Divide] One day, my children returned…
🏛️Chapter 16: The Illusory Connection-Addiction to “likes” on social media
🏛️The Illusory Connection: Collective Loneliness That ‘Likes’ Can Never Satiate A thousand ‘likes’ in a virtual colony are merely praises sung to your shadow; they can never sustain the heavy gravity of your true existence. Re-trace your Map of Self to recognize that connection without vulnerability is a beautifully packaged vacuum. A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: The Virtual Tribes and Loneliness as Mere Boredom At some point, modern individuals completely lost the capacity to endure solitude. As seen in the realization that loneliness is often just another name for boredom, the moment the screen in our hands turns black, we are…
🏛️Chapter 15: The Raging Concrete-Uncontrolled Volatility and the Armor of Hate
🏛️Uncontrolled anger—a state of inner deficiency Dominance over the vulnerable through unbridled rage is the ultimate proof of an internal drought. True competence is the savage mastery over one’s own internal architecture. Re-trace your Map of Self to recognize that anger is merely a cry for control in a life that feels helpless. A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: The Epidemic of Arbitrary Violence and the Explosive Mind We are living in an era where public spaces have become psychological minefields. The collective trauma of the modern landscape is no longer confined to the home or the schoolyard; it has spilled violently…
🏛️Chapter 14: The Room Exile-The Hidden Self Behind the Monitor
🏛️The Room Exile -The Hidden Self Behind the Monitor and Imaginary Warmth The soft glow of the monitor is but a temporary shield for your lonely nights; it can never become the authentic warmth your soul starves for. Re-trace your Map of Self to recognize that your narrative only resumes when your feet touch the raw, real earth. A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: A World Where Solitude is Convenient, the Living Ghosts “Hikikomori” (acute social withdrawal), once dismissed as a unique social phenomenon localized to Japan, has officially crossed international borders to become a universal lifestyle format of the modern era.…
🏛️Chapter 13: Classrooms Fractured by School Violence: Cruel Predators and Wounded Identities
🏛️The Fractured Classroom: Savage Predators and the Bruised Identity Dominance over the weak is the ultimate proof of an inner vacuum. True competence is protecting the sanctity of the person next to you. Re-trace your Map of Self to recognize that human dignity is non-negotiable. A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: Terror as a Routine and the Muted Scream The classroom, a space that should naturally be filled with pure growth, has transformed into a living hell and an exile for many. While mass media often exploits school bullying as a dramatic element for movies and series, the raw reality is far…
🏛️Chapter 12: Exile into the Smartphone Screen: Erased Coordinates and Digital Ghosts
🏛️Modern People Anxious Without Smartphones: A Deficit in the Realm of Thought Let your smartphone guide your path, but never allow it to determine your destination. True agency lies in firmly refusing to confine your consciousness within a glass screen. Redraw your own “map of the self” to discover a quiet inner center that requires no signal.A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: The Vanished Conversations of Bellagio and Our Nightly Vigil with the Screen-Smartphone addiction There is a memory from years ago that now feels like a distant, historical relic. Waiting in the long queue outside the Bellagio buffet in Las Vegas,…
🏛️Chapter 11: The Cloned Aesthetic-The Disappearance of the Authentic Self in an Era of Hyper-Remodeling
🏛️Replicated Aesthetics: Those Dependent on Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Procedures—An Era of Excessive Alteration and the Fading True Self. Am I living well? Yes, by reclaiming the un-erased sovereignty of my natural form. My worth is measured by my capacity to resist the manufactured mirror of social expectations. Re-trace your Map of Self to find the face that belongs only to you. True beauty lies in discovering one’s innate beauty. ① The Symptom: The Irony of the Unrecognizable Lineage and Childhood Blueprints There is a bitter, modern joke whispered in contemporary society: a man marries a woman of flawless, synthetic beauty, only to look at their newborn child years later…
🏛️Chapter 10 : The Crumbling Empire
🏛️The Map of Self Trapped in the Addiction Epidemi Future competence is not about how efficiently we ignore the vulnerable, but how powerfully we protect them. The reclamation of a broken soul is the ultimate test of our collective humanity. A true gem breathes on its own, even in the dark. ① The Symptom: The Hollow Walk of the Living Dead Drug addiction is no longer a localized tragedy or a distant headline; it has mutated into a silent, omnipresent erosion of our global community. Behind the veil of social indifference, an alarming number of individuals are leading lives that are systematically decaying in isolation. The reality in certain urban…
🏛️Chapter 9: Animal Abuse -The Broken Web
🏛️Animal Abuse: The Hubris of Man and the Sorrow of the Voiceless Future capabilities depend not on how absolutely we dominate nature, but on how humbly we coexist within the vast web of life that is nature itself. Treating living beings callously diminishes our own humanity. Only when we expand our moral horizons to soothe the silent sorrow of animals and respect the boundaries of the wild do we truly restore the dignity of the human soul. ① The Symptom: Companion Animals Discarded as Temporary Props Every day, we witness a stark manifestation of human moral deficit right on our doorsteps. Companion animals, once welcomed as family, are ruthlessly abandoned…
🏛️Chapter 8: The Silent PandemicThe Silent Pandemic- Breaking the Silence on Child Abuse
🏛️Confronting Child Abuse: Severe Punishment, Firm Condemnation, and Robust Child Protection As true adults, our capacity to shape the future depends not on how effectively we turn a blind eye to the vulnerable, but on how strongly we protect them. Those who uphold the dignity of a child are the true architects of humanity’s future. ① The Symptom: The Suffocated Screams Behind Closed Doors The most vulnerable souls, who deserve unconditional warmth and absolute safety, are increasingly left to suffocate in the dark. Child abuse exists across every social stratum, yet society routinely lowers its eyes, choosing to “shush” the warning signs under the pretext of privacy. The symptoms are…
🏛️Chapter 7: The Silent Satellites-The Heavy Responsibility of a Family Breadwinner
The burden and responsibility of a breadwinner carrying a heavy load, and the nature of an unsettled freedom The greatest anguish faced by middle-aged men who head their households often stems from how they view themselves. Everyone leads life differently; some prioritize a sense of responsibility above all else, while others cherish freedom. Yet, for many, the most painful reality is the inescapable burden of being the sole provider for their family. This role feels like a destiny as old as human history itself. But is that truly the whole story? Human life spans a long time, and few find genuine joy in dedicating their prime years—the most vital period…
🏛️Chapter 6 : The Invisible Architects-Reclaiming the Lost Self in the Landscape of Motherhood
🏛️Before fulfilling the role of a woman or a mother, the most important fact to realize about your life is that you must cherish yourself. As a woman—or a mother—the person who has built a home and safely guided a new generation through the storms has already proven herself to be a great architect. Stepping back out into the world is not a betrayal of motherhood, but a sacred process of reclaiming one’s own map. The strength to face the future lies not in how much one sacrifices for others, but in how authentically one preserves one’s own soul. Reclaiming the self is the only “compass” that prevents the family…
🏛️Chapter 5: Digital Hermits: The Familiarity of an Isolated World – The Empathy Perception Gap
🏛️The Digital Hermit: Reclaiming Empathy in the AI Age In a digital world increasingly populated by AI companions, we must remember:Digital technology is not a destination, but merely a bridge. The capacity for empathy remains the only “moat”—an impregnable barrier—that AI can never cross. Future competence hinges not on how skillfully one operates machines, but on how deeply one understands the hearts of others. ① The Symptom: The Empire of Silent Rooms Walk into a high school hallway or a suburban living room, and you will witness a new kind of silence. Adolescents today live as “Digital Hermits.” They communicate via text to avoid the “inefficiency” of voice; they play…
🏛️ Chapter 4 : The Grace of Expansion: Aging Beyond Diminishment
🏛️The Grace of Expansion: Aging Beyond Diminishment Modern times make it difficult to accept the aging process. Telling an older person they look young is considered a compliment, and even those who are not yet old often desire to appear younger. Amidst this, there is a widespread aversion to aging and a negative perception of the elderly; even individuals themselves often dislike the prospect of their own old age. Yet, old age is not merely a process of gradual decline; it is a time when the legacy of a human life is distilled into its deepest and most refined form. True dignity in old age does not come from desperately…
🏛️Chapter 3 : The Architecture of Solitude Built Through Being Alone
🏛️Being Alone-From Loneliness to a Legacy “Being alone” refers to a state of acting solely on one’s own strength—without the help of others—or simply existing by oneself. It offers complete freedom across time, space, and relationships, allowing you to focus entirely on yourself. Living alone is not a sentence of isolation; rather, it is the ultimate arena for testing one’s autonomy. It is not a life defined by lack, but one that acknowledges and embraces the inherent incompleteness of existence. Consequently, the responsibility for such a life rests with you alone. ① The Symptom: The Dual Facets of the Solo Era Whether by choice or by circumstance, the modern world…
🏛️Chapter 2 : The Diploma Trap-The Mirage of the Golden Ticket
🏛️A ‘Golden Ticket’ within a mirage—seek out the immense value that exists in the world beyond it. Your worth is not defined by a mere scrap of paper whose true value the market has yet to recognize. Success is no longer about reaching the finish line of a university degree; rather, it is an inner resilience forged amidst the wreckage of a fractured social contract. Yet, students continue to strive for admission to top-tier universities—a reflection of the bitter reality of modern society, where securing a high-paying job has become the primary goal. But is that truly all there is to it? As we face a rapidly changing world, we…
🏛️Chapter 1 : The Real Name of the Photos We Post is ‘Deficit’
🏛️Escaping the “Deficit” Mindset: Living Your Own Life Free from the Gaze of Others Many people live under the compulsion to prove their worth. They feel they are “enough” only when they achieve more, receive better evaluations, and gain greater recognition.This desire to prove one’s existence stems from a craving for validation, a sense of insecurity, and the innate human instinct to find meaning in life. Humans cannot find peace in the mere fact of being alive; instead, they constantly seek confirmation of their value.True self-esteem comes not from proving oneself, but from accepting oneself exactly as one is. ① The Symptom: The Chronic Itch for External Validation Picture this:…
