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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Gratitude: Han -- 7/4/07

Earlier today, I watched an episode of The West Wing in which a North Korean pianist wishes to defect. He mentions "han" as his sense of feeling when told that to do so would compromise nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the US. This is one of the citations at Answers.com:

The Television show The West Wing also referenced the trait in Episode 5.4 (entitled "Han"). The episode concludes with the President of the United States realizing his own personal understanding of the esoteric concept: "There is no literal English translation. It's a state of mind. Of soul, really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come. And yet still there's hope." [emphasis added]

This has been my state of soul for the last two months. It's nice to have a word for it. In Korean, the word has much deeper cultural connotations about suffering and despair, but I like the way President Bartlett phrased it.

Anyway, I like learning new words -- and this one is so fitting to my life.

I'm grateful for the hope that lies hidden in sadness and despair. I still feel the sadness, and maybe I always will if things don't work out in my favor, but I have also rediscovered the hope. What better gift is there?

What are you grateful for?


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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 5, 2007 at 3:51 AM

    Dear Bill, I just wanted to drop a note to introduce myself, since I have been reading your blog for a while now without commenting (and have been talking to Steve aka Nagarjuna briefly on his blog as well). I find your blog insightful and compassionate, and resonate with your ideas on many things, especially the common sense relationship advice!

    On gratitude: I find that even in the midst of the worst problems, what always gets me through is gratitude. The more grateful I am and the more I accept what is, the easier it gets to let go and move on.

    Thank you again for the great blog. :-)

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  2. UnknownJuly 5, 2007 at 8:51 AM

    I was a late-arriving big fan of The West Wing up until its finale. I do remember the episode you reference and the word "han" which was the title of the episode, I believe, and was the sad state of the pianist.

    I hope, Bill, that you find your way out of your own personal North Korea.

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  3. william harrymanJuly 5, 2007 at 12:31 PM

    Thanks Tom!

    Hi Ned,

    Thanks for all the comments you've left of late -- I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog.

    I've added your blog to my RSS feeds. I look forward to seeing what you're up to.

    All best,
    Bill

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