#22 The Moon and Quarter

Editor: @nwangerd

An Anecdote from New York: 9 to 5 & 5 to 9

There’s one conversation I had with our beloved YBP regular, Lil T.J., during my recent trip to New York that has particularly stayed with me. "Do people here care about what you do from 9 to 5?" she asked. "No," she continued, "what they're more curious about is what you're up to from 5 to 9." Oh! How perfectly does that capture a thought that had been floating around in my mind. It's exactly moments like this that remind me why we need to meet new people, engage in different conversations. It's like when I was working on our article layouts and t-shirts — I had to constantly look at reference works to get it just right.

During this New York trip, when I introduced myself to people, I mentioned running a magazine as a side project. That usually sparked a lot of interest, and some even happily agreed to be interviewed. Meanwhile, nobody seemed to care much about the details of my day job in tech sales and such. Haha. So, what about back home in here? I do have similar experiences here, but they seem to happen less often. In fact, sometimes when I mention the magazine, the conversation just ends there. It's like the conversation gets on a fast train from "hello" to "goodbye" in an instant, all thanks to the magazine.

For most of us — myself included — who speak Korean and come from environments like Korea or, more broadly, Asia, I doubt anyone would disregard what someone does from 9 to 5. Especially people in our age group, the ones we aim to represent with YBP, many of whom are working full-time or generating income through some kind of job. Remember when we used to sum up a person in a single sentence when setting them up on a blind date? "Works at XX company, 29 years old, 175 cm. Want to meet?" Why do we care so much about 9 to 5 when talking about ourselves or others? Does that mean New Yorkers are better than us? If I go down that path, my ancestors will surely be in turmoil. Let me reframe the question. Is there a reason why 9 to 5 wouldn’t matter? Are we genuinely interested in what someone does from 9 to 5? Is there something else we’d rather talk about? Probably appearance, I guess. (Damn it.)

I don’t want my job or the work I do to completely define me. That doesn’t mean I slack off and just fill the rest of my time with random side projects. I'm definitely not someone who wants to be seen as someone incapable of doing their job. So, how should I define myself? YBP is a magazine run by three people who want to excel in both work and life. I’ll write more about my thoughts on this in the following article.

The Moon and Sixpence

Recently, I read The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham. The novel revolves around the life of a man named Strickland, who is consumed by an almost manic artistic inspiration and impulse. Strickland rejects the materialism, order, and social conventions represented by the "sixpence" (a British coin) in favor of the idealized, transcendent values represented by the "moon" — in this case, the pursuit of art. As he says, he has an absolute compulsion to paint, and without a second thought, he abandons both his job and family to live solely for art.

Strickland’s rigid, almost fanatical passion for art eventually leads him to create works that are recognized as masterpieces. Along the way, the lives of those around him are either destroyed or transformed, influenced in one way or another by his relentless pursuit. Strickland himself, however, rejects all human contact throughout his life.

The novel uses Strickland’s life (inspired by the artist Paul Gauguin) to critique human obsession with materialism and social norms, while exploring higher values that transcend ordinary life. Before making any judgment about the themes in this novel, there are a few points worth considering.

1. Strickland is portrayed as a thoroughly selfish and disdainful person — to put it bluntly, a total jerk. Yet, despite his personality, he somehow attracts people around him, including myself as a reader. What is the reason for this?

2. Despite Strickland’s undeniable genius and artistic drive, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of repulsion toward his single-minded pursuit of the "moon." Does that make me someone who’s stuck in the small, faded "sixpence"?

3. The relationship between the moon and the coin in the novel is inherently antagonistic. Can these two things coexist? When you think about it, doesn’t a Quarter shine more brightly under the moon than it ever does in your pocket?

Pure Passion

Strickland's ability to draw people in isn't solely because of his artistic genius — at least, not for me, since I’m no art expert. I think it’s more due to the raw and powerful passion he shows in the process. His pure passion for life expressed through art is what attracts others. Throughout our lives, we meet many different types of people, but those who are passionate about something always seem to stand out. We’re drawn to one another’s passion and find ourselves inspired by it.

Unlike Strickland, who discarded his job to pursue his art, I believe that I work with passion. The rewards of my work are secondary to the passion I put into it. That’s what I want. And naturally, I’m drawn to people who share that same passion. It’s not about what you do, but how you do it — just like Strickland's irresistible charm. After all, I’ve concluded that the common thread between the moon and the coin, or between life and work, is pure passion.

I want to live a life fueled by pure passion in both my work and my personal life. That’s why I put my best effort into my work, and why, after hours, I run the magazine. That's also why I stayed up late finishing layouts and design works while preparing for a business trip and breathed in the scent of grass in the early dawn.

I don’t want to be defined by the type of work I do or by the magazine I run afterward. I don’t want to be reduced to a label like "XX company employee, 29 years old." Nor do I want to become a Strickland who rejects such definitions entirely. Instead, I want to talk to people about how I do my work, and what passions I have outside of it.

I want to be someone who fully lives both the 9 to 5 and the 5 to 9. I want to be a vision that fully encompasses both the moonlight and the Quarter glimmering beneath it.