There is a word that Koreans use to define simple and everyday happiness, the kind that does not depend on extraordinary goals or events. It’s “소확행,” it reads sohwakhaengand literally means “small but certain happiness”. A concept born in South Korea in the 1980s and back in the spotlight in recent times, as a response to modern life made up of deadlines, performances and endless notifications.
Basically, it’s the pleasure you feel when you sip a cup of hot tea in the evening, when you decorate a corner of the house you love or listen to the sound of rain from the window. They are gestures that seem irrelevant, but which – if recognized for their value – can bring us back down to earth and lighten the mental burden of the day.
From Korea to Italy: when an evening ritual is enough to feel better
Sohwakhaeng has nothing spiritual or new age about it. It’s an exercise in concreteness: seeking happiness in what you can truly control. While Western culture tends to measure well-being on objectives and results, Korean culture accepts that serenity does not depend on success, but on the continuity of small things.
Several studies, including research published on Korean Psychological Associationshow that those who regularly practice these “certain moments of happiness” develop higher levels of confidence, calm and self-esteem. And no, you don’t need to move to Seoul to try.
You can also start here, in your home, with a simple and personal ritual. Here are some ideas:
The goal is not to “detach” from the world, but to train ourselves to recognize the pleasure of being in it, in a lighter way. It’s a small act of gentle rebellion against the culture of “always doing more”.
The pleasure of normal happiness
There is an almost revolutionary aspect to sohwakhaeng: it doesn’t expect you to be happy all the time, but invites you to notice when you are, even if just for a moment. You don’t need a tropical vacation or professional success to feel good. Just learn to slow down, even just for the time of a breath.
After all, happiness – real happiness – doesn’t make any noise. It’s the one that manifests itself on any given evening, when you turn off your phone, take a sigh and realize that you’re fine for no reason.
And perhaps this is precisely the beauty of sohwakhaeng: it gives us back the right to be happy without justifications.
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