Quiet Solidarity
Caught between a past I constantly miss and a future I cannot see, I must have been running out of breath. I love finding and capturing the quiet beauty of the present, so where does this divide come from?
For days, anxiety ran high. As restless thoughts kept flooding in without an outlet, I wanted room to breathe. I finally booked a place I had eyed for a long time: Motif#1 in Paju, just over an hour’s drive from home.
Alongside Motif#1, which has stood for over two decades, sits a newly opened wing called Artstay Prénom. I booked a room named Wirazka, after a Polish artist introduced as "one who never abandoned his dream."
Books collected by the host lined three full walls, framing a comfortable sofa in the center. I had reserved the room imagining myself sitting there, feeling composed and at ease.
For the first evening, I had booked a yoga session in the shared living room. Yoga had always felt like self-inflicted penance to me, but this session was different. No aggressive contortions; just breathing and unclenching the body. The instructor guided us around a single theme: "Margins in life."
Life needs margins. Not too wide, not too narrow, just enough room to exist. Repeating those words to myself, I decided to leave white space wherever my thoughts cleared out.
In a corner of another lounge stood shelves of guestbooks left by past travelers. Reading words penned by strangers, I fell into a quiet solidarity. Anchored by their traces, I was pulled out of the past and the future, back into the present.
"Don’t stay frozen in a past that has already slipped away. Don't rush ahead dreading a future that hasn't arrived. Focus on the breath in this moment. Giving your all to today is more than enough." It felt like quiet encouragement, offered softly across time by someone I will never meet.
On the morning of my departure, I took a short walk around the property and felt winter setting in. I love that crisp, pure chill in the season's first breath of air.
A brief note sent at checkout brought a warm reply. You do not have to stand face-to-face to feel someone's warmth.
Artstay Prénom is a sanctuary and retreat for creators located in Heyri Art Village, Paju. Opened in 2025 right beside Motif#1, a beloved bookstay of over twenty years, the two spaces face each other across a shared garden.
Motif#1 · Prénom
Location & Details
- Location: 38-14 Heyrimaeul-gil, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do (Prénom) / 38-26 (Motif#1)
- Parking: Heyri Public Parking Lot 13 (approx. 2-minute walk)
- Space: 1st-floor communal lounge (gallery and tea space), shared kitchen, and guest rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows.