In a country where every minute is planned, where work also takes up free time and breaks are seen as a waste of time, a new word is changing things: Aboha, short for aju botong-eui haru“a very ordinary day.”
The idea is simple: you don’t need to do special things to feel good. The Aboha invites you to slow down, to live without showing off, to enjoy common gestures such as drinking tea, walking or staying at home in silence. It is a trend born among young Koreans, tired of a life of deadlines and comparisons, who today seek peace in the simplest habits.
From too much doing to knowing how to stay
In recent years, even recreational activities have become a competition to see who can do the most: courses, hobbies, sports, all transformed into performance. But many have realized that this continuous rhythm does not bring well-being, only tiredness. This is where Aboha was born: a return to calm, to slowness, to spaces where there is no need to prove anything.
Among the most popular activities are knitting, origami, gardening or walking without music. Small gestures that help turn off the mind, regain concentration and presence. In Korea, this has also become a way of saying “enough” to the social pressure to always be productive, perfect and busy.
What science says
An investigation conducted in 2020 by Young Yim Doh and Ji-Bum Chung, published inInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthstudied how Korean adults define their happiness.
Research has identified seven forms of happiness: self-realization, belonging, mission, social recognition, pleasure, material success and parenting. The results are clear: the happiest people are not those who chase money or a career, but those who experience moments of belonging, pleasure or a sense of purpose.
The Aboha reflects precisely this: a happiness that does not depend on results, but on feeling present in everyday life.
From “sohwakhaeng” to Aboha: happiness without filters
Before Aboha, there was already a similar concept in Korea: “sohwakhaeng”, which means “small but certain happiness”. Over time, however, that movement has also become a trend to be shown: designer mugs, curated brunches, perfect photos.
Aboha is the opposite. It doesn’t want to be beautiful, it wants to be true. No filters, no aesthetic research: just normality experienced without judgement. According to many sociologists, this trend marks a profound change: happiness is no longer a goal, but a daily state.
Perhaps, behind the Aboha, there is a question that concerns us too: how much of our time is really ours? We are used to planning, showing, sharing everything. Aboha reminds us that normality, if experienced without performance anxiety, can be a concrete way to feel good again.
Sometimes it doesn’t take much: disconnecting the phone, doing nothing for an hour, walking aimlessly.
It’s not laziness, it’s attention. And, in a world that always wants us to rush, perhaps this is precisely the true form of rebellion.
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