I didn’t go to art school. I once wanted to be a graphic designer.

I once wanted to be a fine artist.

I always wanted to be something.

I never became one.

Instead, I sort of became everything all at once, and I’m so not perfect at any of those things, and I’m so proud of not being perfectly polished.

I am so proud these signs are so childish and so not perfect and so clumsy, and I absolutely am proud of not being so well cut, fine, and tuned.

I once hoped this could be my last job of my life so that I could feel much more relaxed and do more work on the line.

I always wanted to meet the last lover. I was always looking for the last job I would be doing.

I never left or quit out of boredom. I only left when I felt the time had come.

I didn’t go to tea school. I know some about tea. I know some Korean and world history. I know one or two things about this and that. I speak some of a few languages. I do some stuffs on the job, especially this one.

I rolled around.

I am still looking for the last job I will be die doing.

I made these clumsy signs for the tea room. They look like the ones I used to make at Montessori when I was 4, and I am so glad and relieved that I haven’t grown any from then.

I was 4.

When we were 4, we all wanted to be something. We laughed and ran around. We had little crushes, picked flowers from the field, and gave them to someone we liked. That’s what being 4 was like.

That’s why I designed the Hands-on™ programs at Heesum. I wanted to stay 4. I wanted everyone to stay 4, at least for a while. To laugh, to learn a little, but more than anything, to have fun and make memories.

The tea master’s sessions are precise and deeply knowledgeable. I take my work seriously, and I try to be professional in everything I do.

But these clumsy signs? They’re a tribute to childhood curiosity of all of us.

Do you remember those days? Those beautiful clumsy days?

I do.

I was 4

Is this enough?