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Steve Lee#17 Dear K
Steve Lee (b. 1983), Intuition, 2023, Digital artwork (iPad), 1280 × 1124 pxIt’s already been over 10 days since you came into this world. I’m excited to watch you grow and curious about how your presence will shape my life. I’ll try not to see you as someone less mature than me just because you’re young. I’ll see you as your own person. I won’t try to trap you in my standards just because I’ve ‘developed’ more. I’ll stand by your side so your life can unfold on its own.When we talk, I’ll loo...
Steve Lee#17 K에게
Steve Lee (b. 1983), Intuition, 2023, Digital artwork (iPad), 1280 × 1124 px지난주에 처음 이세상에 나온 후로 벌써 십여 일이 지났네. 앞으로 네가 성장해 나가는 모습들이 설레고, 또 내 인생을 어떻게 물들일지도 궁금하단다. 네가 어리다고 해서 너를 ‘나보다’ 미숙한 존재로 보지 않고, 하나의 인격체로 보도록 노력할게. 내가 더 ‘발달했다’고 해서 내 기준으로 너를 가두지 않고, 네 삶이 스스로 펼쳐질 수 있도록 곁에서 도와줄게.너와 이야기할 땐 꼭 눈을 보고 말할게. “미안, 지금은 안 될 것 같아”라고 거절해야 할 때도 너에게 시선을 두고 이야기할게. 화를 낼 때도, 꼭 눈을 보고 이유를 설명할게.때론 시시하고, 엉뚱해도, 너에게 질문을 많이 하는 사람이 될게. “하늘은 왜 파란색이지?” “저 사람 표정은 왜 슬퍼 보일까?” “어떤 맛인지 색깔로 표현해볼래?” “이 음악 들으니까 어떤 그림이 떠올라?” 벌써 너의 대...
Steve Lee#5 한시간의 여행
Finding Inner Peace
<100 subscribers
Steve Lee#17 Dear K
Steve Lee (b. 1983), Intuition, 2023, Digital artwork (iPad), 1280 × 1124 pxIt’s already been over 10 days since you came into this world. I’m excited to watch you grow and curious about how your presence will shape my life. I’ll try not to see you as someone less mature than me just because you’re young. I’ll see you as your own person. I won’t try to trap you in my standards just because I’ve ‘developed’ more. I’ll stand by your side so your life can unfold on its own.When we talk, I’ll loo...
Steve Lee#17 K에게
Steve Lee (b. 1983), Intuition, 2023, Digital artwork (iPad), 1280 × 1124 px지난주에 처음 이세상에 나온 후로 벌써 십여 일이 지났네. 앞으로 네가 성장해 나가는 모습들이 설레고, 또 내 인생을 어떻게 물들일지도 궁금하단다. 네가 어리다고 해서 너를 ‘나보다’ 미숙한 존재로 보지 않고, 하나의 인격체로 보도록 노력할게. 내가 더 ‘발달했다’고 해서 내 기준으로 너를 가두지 않고, 네 삶이 스스로 펼쳐질 수 있도록 곁에서 도와줄게.너와 이야기할 땐 꼭 눈을 보고 말할게. “미안, 지금은 안 될 것 같아”라고 거절해야 할 때도 너에게 시선을 두고 이야기할게. 화를 낼 때도, 꼭 눈을 보고 이유를 설명할게.때론 시시하고, 엉뚱해도, 너에게 질문을 많이 하는 사람이 될게. “하늘은 왜 파란색이지?” “저 사람 표정은 왜 슬퍼 보일까?” “어떤 맛인지 색깔로 표현해볼래?” “이 음악 들으니까 어떤 그림이 떠올라?” 벌써 너의 대...
Steve Lee#5 한시간의 여행
Finding Inner Peace
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
A successful person in Korea once said in a YouTube video that he values three things for his success: the people you spend time with, the space you spend time in, and the quality of that time.
In Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, the words for “people” (人間), “space” (空間), and “time” (時間) all share the character 間, which means “gap” or “in-between.” Each word also contains another character—人 (person), 空 (empty), and 時 (time)—that gives it meaning.
As I wrote this down in my notebook, I started to see something deeper.
People (人間, Human Gap): There is always an unspoken assumption between people. We say things like, “(I thought) you would do that,” or “(I assumed) you thought this way.” But we rarely say those assumptions out loud with confidence that they are correct. Good communication is really about noticing those hidden assumptions and narrowing the gap between them.
Space (空間, Empty Gap): The word 空 (empty) means there is nothing there. But space exists—so how can it be empty? Imagine if there was no empty space at all. Nothing could exist. Maybe we don’t take up space because we exist—maybe we exist because there is empty space that allows us to be.
Time (時間, Time Gap): The time between moments. David Eagleman, the author of The Brain, once said, “Everything we perceive is already in the past.” This is because there is always a tiny delay—however small—between seeing something and our brain actually processing it. If we could fully understand that gap between now and when we “realize” now, maybe we could find a way to live a little ahead of time—almost in the future.
And beyond that—there is also the gap between breaths (try taking a deep breath right now and notice the tiny pause in between). The gap between a customer and a product, a company and its investors, me and my coworkers, my goals and my actions to achieve those. The space in a painting where the artist chose not to place an object. Even the gap between sentences in a book.
If you’re looking for new inspiration, maybe instead of focusing on what exists, try exploring the space between what exists.
A successful person in Korea once said in a YouTube video that he values three things for his success: the people you spend time with, the space you spend time in, and the quality of that time.
In Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, the words for “people” (人間), “space” (空間), and “time” (時間) all share the character 間, which means “gap” or “in-between.” Each word also contains another character—人 (person), 空 (empty), and 時 (time)—that gives it meaning.
As I wrote this down in my notebook, I started to see something deeper.
People (人間, Human Gap): There is always an unspoken assumption between people. We say things like, “(I thought) you would do that,” or “(I assumed) you thought this way.” But we rarely say those assumptions out loud with confidence that they are correct. Good communication is really about noticing those hidden assumptions and narrowing the gap between them.
Space (空間, Empty Gap): The word 空 (empty) means there is nothing there. But space exists—so how can it be empty? Imagine if there was no empty space at all. Nothing could exist. Maybe we don’t take up space because we exist—maybe we exist because there is empty space that allows us to be.
Time (時間, Time Gap): The time between moments. David Eagleman, the author of The Brain, once said, “Everything we perceive is already in the past.” This is because there is always a tiny delay—however small—between seeing something and our brain actually processing it. If we could fully understand that gap between now and when we “realize” now, maybe we could find a way to live a little ahead of time—almost in the future.
And beyond that—there is also the gap between breaths (try taking a deep breath right now and notice the tiny pause in between). The gap between a customer and a product, a company and its investors, me and my coworkers, my goals and my actions to achieve those. The space in a painting where the artist chose not to place an object. Even the gap between sentences in a book.
If you’re looking for new inspiration, maybe instead of focusing on what exists, try exploring the space between what exists.
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