Oppa Choi’s golden life is creating something from nothing
Caution: Long article!
For more than half a year, this question “What is My Golden Life?” has been constantly on my mind. So many possibilities from success, love, wealth, happiness…but what does Writer So have in her mind for KBS drama “My Golden Life”?
I am of course not Writer So and not clever enough to second guess her or even think that I can be a better writer! She has her views of what “golden life” is about and have crafted her storyline in accordance with her own view and experience. The good part is that she left a lot to the maturity of the audience to draw their own conclusions.
My personal view, and I emphasize, it is only my own view and you can of course see things differently, after watching and reviewing every single episode, is that “My Golden Life” is about “self-actualization”.
Family comes even closer when self is fulfilled
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone.” There are two popular theories on self actualization, almost similar. Organismic theorist Goldstein first introduced it as a motive to realize one’s full potential citing examples such as expressing one’s creativity, pursuing spiritual enlightenment, gaining knowledge or a desire to do good to positively transform a society. The more well known theory is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs of first satisfying basic needs such as food, shelter, security and sense of belonging before moving up the hierarchy to the eventual stage of self-actualization – the need to be good, to be fully alive and to find meaning in life.
In KBS drama “My Golden Life”, it is about progression, moving from one state to another in personal development. And self actualization means different things to different individuals. It is not something pre-defined and not what someone else or society defines for you. It is very specific and very personal. You are responsible for yourself. You take charge of your own actions. You craft your own golden life!
There were many characters in the drama that evolved through life, too many to cover, so I picked the most interesting, and possibly the most controversial as I see them.
A happier Jian learning more about her love for wood
A Jian lover or a Jian hater, I am neither nor do I take any side, I just have my own view as always, and they are not stationary as was intended by Writer So, I believe. As the drama progressed and story unfolded, my views changed with Seo Jian’s progress in life. I don’t think Writer So intended Seo Jian to be an all rounded role model, she had her strengths as well as her flaws. She also had to learn and grow. She started off at the very basic level, working hard and struggling to make ends meet to make life better for her family. She took the lead to make decisions, often based on her own judgement, not consulting with others. Through her traumatic experience she eventually found herself, knew what she wanted out of life and what were really important to her. She grew out of what society dictated young people should aspire in life ie: work for big corporations, have a career and earn good money. And she finally found her potential in expressing herself through woodcraft. She also learnt the true meaning of love and family after going through a turbulent course of ups and downs before finally being reconciling with her family for a more meaningful life.
Life weighted on him till he found again family love and rebuilt his self confidence
Father Seo found himself living in a rut after his business failure. He just could not break out of thinking that he had failed his family, letting them down and not being able to give them the good things in life. In his mind, as head of the family, he was responsible for their well being. Father Seo reached the lowest point in his life when he was faced with his son’s decision to not get married and have children, not wanting them to struggle and his daughters leaving for better, wealthier lives and finally finding himself with cancer. This was when he let go, forsaking everything and everyone to lead a secluded life. His enlightenment and acceptance came later when he felt a sense of purpose and belonging and being surrounded by the love of his family that he thought he didn’t have. For him, even though he knew his days were numbered, he felt at ease, fulfilled, his life was golden!
Mother Choi rediscovering herself and the romance with Father Choi
Mother Choi thought she was at the epitome of the world, at the stage of self actualization. She had everything she could wish for – wealth, power, respect and control. That was until her world fell apart one by one, first with a mistaken lost daughter, a disrespectful and disruptive real one, a son in rebellion, a husband forsaking their marriage and herself being disgracefully kicked out of Haesung group. From the highest in the hierarchy to the bottom of the pit! Only when she accepted the home truths about her ways and make changes was she able to go forward to reach her golden life.
Seo Jisu’s life was practically golden from start to finish
Seo Jisu’s life was practically golden from start to end. Yes, no doubt there were times when she felt the blues, but compared to what the others experienced, hers were nothing but ripples that could barely rock the boat! She had her path in life cut out for her exactly as she wanted it, but then, she was a simple person with simple needs. Basic essentials were all she needed and to be able to work on her beloved bread!
A journey of self discovery for Oppa Choi
And finally, Choi Dokyung. He had his life planned for him. Born with a silver spoon, he had a sheltered life, groomed from young to take over the helm of a chaebol his grandfather had built. He was poised to have all the power, authority and influence to make the decisions and get others to do his biding, no need to lift even a finger. But that wasn’t what he wanted out of life. His vision of a golden life was to create and build, to roll up his sleeves and sink his hands deep in mud and craft something from nothing. Find his own way, build his own future. Not everyone will understand why he threw away what almost everyone aspired to achieve – being Chairman of a major conglomerate – but that was not everyone’s vision of self actualization.
So what about love, you may ask. Do not Seo Jian and Choi Dokyung want love in their life? I have no doubt! After all that they hadbeen through and making something out of their respective interests into careers, the unhurried rediscovery of each other and their love will be infinitely sweeter, the epitome of their future golden life together!
My take on “My Golden Life”? It’s about me, my self actualization! For each and everyone in this drama!
自我实现的黄金光辉的人生
警告：长篇哦！
半年多以来，我一直在思考这个问题：“我的黄金光辉的人生究竟指什么？”。成功，爱情，财富，快乐等方面，看来有很多种可能性……但苏作家对KBS电视剧“我黄金光辉的人生”是怎么想的呢？
当然，我不是苏作家，所以不够聪明可以猜测她，也不认为自己可以编剧比苏作家还要好的剧本！根据她自己的观点和经验制定，她分享了她对“黄金的人生”有何看法，和编织了她的故事情节。最重要的是她让不同观众的成熟度留下了空间给他们自己有自己的结论。
在观看，回顾和评论每一集之后，我自己的观点（我强调，这只是我个人的观点），是“我的黄金光辉的人生”是关于“自我实现”。当然你可以以不同的方式看待这剧和事情。
Nothing to fear with love in the face of death
新牛津美国词典将“自我实现”定义为“实现个人的才能和潜力，特别是指每个人需要的驱动力或需求”。自我实现有两种流行理论，但几乎相似。有机理论家戈尔斯坦Goldstein首先将它作为一个动机来实现一个人的全部潜能，例如表达一个人的创造力，追求精神启蒙，获得知识或渴望做出积极改变一个社会的良好愿望。更为人熟知的理论是马斯洛Maslow的满足的需求层次结构，首先满足基本需求（如食物，住所，安全感和归属感），然后将层次结构升级为最终的自我实现阶段 – 需要做得好，充分活跃并找到生活中的意义。
KBS电视剧“我的黄金人生”，是关于进步，从个人发展中从一个状态转到另一个状态。而自我实现对不同的人意味着不同的事情。它不是预先定义的，也不是别人或社会为你定义的。是非常具体和非常个人性的。你要对自己负责。负责自己的行为。制造自己的黄金人生！
剧中的很多角色是生活演变而来的，但因为有太多可以掩饰的角色，所以只能选择一些较有趣的，也许是也是最具争议性的角色。
Her self discovery gave her a new outlook in life
我并非是徐智安的爱护者，也不是徐智安的对立者，也不偏向任何一方，但我总是有自己的看法，而想法不是固定着的，是随着电视剧的进展，故事的展开，和徐智安的人生进步而改变的。我不认为苏作家打算把徐智安描述为一位完美的榜样，她有她的优点和缺点，也必须学习和成长。她是从最基本的层面开始，努力工作，努力维持生计，为她的家人改善生活。她通常是根据自己的判断，而不跟其他人讨论做决定。有过创伤经历，她最终发现了自己，知道自己想要什么，以及什么才是真正重要的事情。从社会认为年轻人应该追求的生活出发，例如：为大公司工作，有职业，赚钱。最后她发现木工才是表达自己的真正潜力的事业。经历了一段动荡的起伏之后，她了解到爱与家庭族的真谛，最终与家人和睦相处，过上更有意义的生活。
An enlightened Father Seo
徐父亲在他的生意失败后发现自己生活窘迫。他认为自己让家人失望，因为他无法给他们生活中的美好事物。在他的脑海里，作为家族的掌门人，他要为家人的幸福负责。他的人生最低点是当他知道儿子决定不结婚和生孩子是不要他们过着一直要挣扎的人生，他的女儿们为了更好，更富有的生活而离家，然后最终发现自己患有癌症。这时，他决定放手，放弃一切，过着僻静的生活。后来，有了目的和归属感，并被家庭的爱所包围时，他的启蒙和接受度也提高了。尽管他知道自己生命剩下的日子不多了，但他感到安慰，满足，实现了他的黄金的人生！
Happily contented Mother Choi, the housewife
崔母亲认为她处于世界的缩影，处于自我实现的阶段。她拥有她所希望的一切 – 财富，权力，尊重和控制。直到她的世界一个接一个地分崩离析，首先是认错了失去的女儿，然后来了个不尊敬而破坏性的亲生女儿，一位叛逆的儿子，一位想抛弃他们的婚姻的丈夫，并且自己也被海星集团耻辱性地踢了出来。从层级中的最高层到坑底！只有当她接受了自己人生的真相并做出改变，她才能够前进以达到她的黄金人生。
徐智秀的人生自始至终都是金黄的。是的，毫无疑问，有些时候她感觉到蓝调，但与他人经历的相比，她的问题只是波澜不惊的事情！她的生活轨迹完全按照她的意愿进行，但是，她是个简单的人，有着简单的需求。基本必需品都是她需要的，而且也都能够实现到，最爱就是在她心爱的面包房工作！
Balancing family and self
最后是崔道京。他的人生已经被计划好了。出生于银勺子，他有着庇护的生活，从小开始被培养为外祖父建设的财阀继承人。他可以拥有所有的权力，影响力去做决定，让别人去执行，不需要动手。但那不是他想要的。他的黄金人生是要创造和建造，挽起袖子，深陷泥泞之中，从无到有创造出自己的事业。找到自己的方式，建立自己的未来。不是每个人都会明白他为什么抛弃几乎每个人都渴望实现的目标 – 成为一家大型集团的会长 – 但这不是每个人都有自我实现的愿景。
那么大家可能会问，那么爱情呢？ 徐智安和崔道京在他们的人生中不需要爱情吗？我毫不怀疑！毕竟他们已经完成了一些事情，并将各自的兴趣转化为职业生涯，缓慢下脚步，重新发现对方，他们的爱情将会变得更甜美，这就是他们未来黄金光辉的人生的缩影！
Only when each achieves his or her own goals can they reach out to each other
Photo Credits – Many thanks! KBS Drama
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