Hello everyone. My name is Seori. I'm a Korean singer-songwriter.

In this booster, I'm going to be answering 21 questions.

In this booster, I’m going to be answering 21 questions. I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited to see what kinds of questions there are going to be.

Number 1: Describe your mindset in three words.

I think words to describe my mindset are… relaxed, self-improvement, and a way to start and end the day.

I guess they’re not three words, but still.

Number 2: What always brings a smile to your face?

Upon reading the question, I immediately thought of my cat, Aeji.

The one who makes me smile from the start to the end of my day, Aeji is my close friend. My family.

Number 3: What is one of your most embarrassing memories?

I have a memory that just popped up but…

Right when I turned 20—in Korea, that’s when you can start drinking legally.

When I drank for the first time, I met up with my friends and we headed to a bar, all determined to drink. We got there very early—maybe at around 5 p.m.?

There, my friends and I, all four of us, were able to drink for the first time.

But I was being overly confident about the whole thing and got carried away so… in about two hours, I got completely wasted and my friends didn’t know what to do with me.

I practically crawled my way back to my home, collapsing at the front door. It was 8 p.m.

My parents were expecting I would be out all night, but because I came home at 8 p.m., they were both shocked and laughed a lot about it. To this day, it’s a very funny memory for them.

Number 4: What’s the worst version of hell you can imagine?

The idea of hell itself is quite terrifying.

There is this Korean movie, “Along with the Gods.” It was a huge hit in Korea.

That movie featured a different type of hell, one of them being a hell for the sin of sloth. It’s a hell for lazy people.

These people must run non-stop forever. If they ever get tired and slow down, they will literally get flatlined by a gigantic grindstone. That’s what comes to my mind.

Number 5: What’s the best version of heaven you can imagine?

The best version of heaven I can imagine…

I don’t have a particular picture in mind. To me, heaven is a place where I can have a dream, make plans, like I’m doing now, and spend time with the people around me.

If I can carry on living like that even after I die, I don’t think I have to fear the afterlife.

Number 6: One day, your future self turns up and tells you the best advice you’ve ever received. What does she say?

To be honest, there were many moments this year where I needed some solid advice.

There are many crossroads in life. Life is about constantly making choices at these crossroads. It’s a series of choices.

From what song to write to what actions to take… These days especially, I frequently find myself at crossroads, trying to make decisions.

If my future self were to appear and can say, “Keep doing what you’re doing,” or, “It’s time for you to make a change,” that would be a huge help to me.

Number 7: What is your zombie apocalypse survival philosophy?

I actually imagine this scenario in my head a lot. These days especially, there are tons of zombie films all around the world.

If there ever was a zombie attack, I think the most important thing to consider would be the location when I come across this situation.

If I was at home during the attack, I would lay low and stay put until the zombies finished making one round of sweeps across the city. With my family.

But I would be so worried if my family weren’t with me. I know I probably wouldn’t be able to get a hold of them, and that would horrify me.

Anyway, I would hold out at home for as long as possible and then try to analyze the situation through the window or the roof.

If I were to come across this situation in a supermarket or a place with a lot of people, I would quickly secure provisions and hide out in a storage room-like place.

I feel like my strategy is to just keep holding out for as long as I can while monitoring the situation.

Number 8: If you could get rid of one food in the world, what would it be?

Food… I feel all foods serve their purpose as ingredients. But personally, I hate eggplants.

In whatever way it was cooked, I don’t think I ever really liked it.

Number 9: What is one of the best failures or losses of your life?

I actually think about this a lot. There is a Korean saying that says, “A blessing in disguise.”

What this means is, in life, a seemingly unfortunate event may sometimes turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Or vice versa — a seemingly good thing may end up being not-so-great. So, we shouldn’t make quick assumptions about a situation.

I think that's really true. I had many regrets about what I had done “wrong” in the past, but turns out, things ended up better because of it.

So now I don't really think that anything I’ve done is a complete failure.

For anyone listening who may feel distressed by any regrets, I sincerely hope you come to believe that something good may eventually come out of those past events.

Number 10: Drop the hardest hitting motivational quote you can muster.

A Korean proverb, “Words become seeds” (be careful what you wish for), is something I keep telling myself.

The fact that I’m recording Mindset like this right now is something that would’ve been beyond my imagination even just 3 years ago. Nevertheless, even if it might be in vain, I constantly imagine and talk about my future with very specific details because I feel like it would actually play out that way someday.

So whenever I have new goals, I try not to be negative but rather think about them as positively as possible.

Number 11: If your life was a movie, what would be the title?

Hmm... if my life was a movie...“As You Say.” I’ll name it that with hopes that it actually becomes that way.

Number 12: What did you think was true in the past that you no longer believe?

It’s not that I don’t believe this anymore, but just until recently, I used to feel my life might be like The Truman Show.

As if this whole life is scripted or something. I felt that way more so after watching The Truman Show. I had this feeling that someone was always watching me.

Even if it wasn’t something like The Truman Show, I did think that there at least must be superhuman out there who can read other people’s minds. Not just one but there are actually a lot of them among us without us knowing. So I remember being super careful with my thoughts.

Number 13: If all of humanity were to go extinct and you could preserve only one work of art, what would it be and why?

There are all kinds of arts out there, but because I love music so much, I want to talk about music.

But having to pick just one… wow, this is.. so difficult.

Many legendary artists just came to mind—The Beatles, Michael Jackson… All of their songs just popped up in my head. If I had to pick one, I would probably pick “Imagine” by The Beatles. I feel like I want to let it be known that we used to be people who dreamt like this.

Number 14: When was the last time you were angry or bitter? What happened and how did you deal with it?

I actually got pretty angry yesterday. It wasn't so much anger as it was frustration.

I had to do a recording, but my audio interface wasn’t cooperating with me.

Only one side of my headphone was working.

It was nearly impossible to keep recording with this headphone since the sound was too ear-splitting. Feeling rushed and flustered, I ran around the whole studio asking my friends and other composers if they could lend me a set of headphones.

Number 15: What’s one of the most out-of-character things you’ve ever done?

If I say I’d never do something, I never do. All the things that come to my mind right now, I haven’t done it yet. For example, I said I would never smoke – I haven’t yet. It’s usually those sorts of things, and I’ve been pretty good about keeping them. If I ever end up doing something out-of-character later down the line, I’ll let you know.

Number 16: What will people in the future think was really stupid or crazy about how people think today?

Since things change so fast in the future, we’ll likely see a tremendous advancement in civilization and technology. Treating sick people would probably become really simple.

For example, let’s say we get hurt somewhere—I think I saw this in a movie but—we’ll be put into a machine and our body would be healed immediately, like “ta-da!”

And they’ll probably say things like, “Back in the days, they used to use band-aids." Or, “They used to buy and put ointment on their cuts.”

Number 17: Take 30 seconds to share with us an impromptu performance.

I could sing, but actually I have another special talent. I do a pretty good impersonation of the animated characters I grew up watching.

I grew up watching “Detective Conan” and “Doraemon.” These were cartoon shows on the children’s channel.

I’ll do an impersonation of the main characters from “Detective Conan” and “Doraemon.”

Conan says, “My name is Conan The Detective!”

“Mirani sis! Dr. Colombo!” He sounds like this.

In Doraemon, I can do a whole conversation between Jingu and Doraemong.

“Doraemon, Doraemon! Isul.. and Tung-tung.. hit me!” Then, Doraemon will answer, “Jingu, I told you not to let them push you around!”

Yup, this is it. I’ll quickly move onto the next question now…

18: What’s a lesson that has taken the longest for you to learn?

It’s something I know in my head, but very hard to carry out in my life. There is an idiom that says, “One happiness, one sadness.” It means, instead of getting swayed towards complete happiness or towards complete sadness, stay grounded in the middle. I’m terrible at this.

So I’m trying my best. When there are a lot of good things happening, I try to stay grounded, but it’s really not easy.

To be able to revere, respect, trust, have faith in, and rely on... I think these things are love.

We can love romantic partners, family, friends, pets…

Of course, I love music and everything but if I were to limit it to people or something alive, I think love is someone you can rely on emotionally. Someone you can trust.

Number 20:  Take a moment to record a message for yourself to hear 1 year from now.

How are you doing? I wonder if you are happier and closer to the goals you wanted to reach.

You have so many goals. Rather than remaining where you are, I hope you are closer to the goals you set for yourself. And I hope you’re a bit happier and a bit healthier, too.

Not just you but I hope your loved ones—both people and animals—are all happy and healthy.

Number 21: What’s the funniest joke you know?

Get to know Seori as she makes her way through 21 Questions. Note: This episode is in Korean.

21 Questions with Seori

Are you having a hard time falling asleep? Maybe you have a lot on your mind and it's hard to calm down your thoughts.

I'm the same way sometimes. But I discovered a new way that helps me fall asleep, and I wanted to share it with you in case it helps you too.

Before we begin, make sure there are no distractions.

Turn off all the lights in your room. Make sure it is quiet.

Now, as you settle into bed, lay down in a comfortable position.

Close your eyes. Feel yourself slowly relax and focus on the sound of my voice.

I am now going to build a house. My imaginary dream house. Ready?

My house has two buildings and a really, really big, rectangular yard.

At one end, there's a two-story building and it's shaped like a triangle. This is where I work and where my studio is, where I record and produce music and have meetings and all that good stuff.

At the far end, on the other side, is my actual house. It has three stories and a lot of different rooms because there are so many things that I want to do.

When you first walk in through the front of the house, right in front, is the garage.

And when you walk past the garage and in through the main door, you will see the library.

In the library, there are bookshelves and huge bookcases that line the walls.

And there is a big table in the middle of the room that can seat around eight people. You can sit here and simply read, or even just listen to music quietly.

If you keep walking, you will come to the living room.

My living room has huge glass windows where you can see the yard outside. But they also function as doors that lead to it, too.

There's a remote somewhere where if you press a button, the glass will turn opaque, and if you press another button, it becomes transparent again.

Right now, I made it opaque, so you can't see outside, because I want to show you a little later.

The thing about my living room is, there's no TV. Only a table, a cabinet, and sofas where people can comfortably sit and talk with each other face-to-face.

My mom always told me that a house should have a big kitchen, so mine is very spacious and clean, with a separate dining room.

Like I said earlier, there are so many things I want to do or like to do.

I recently started practicing yoga by myself and I'm still only a beginner, but I have a yoga room where I can keep practicing and get better at it.

I have a tea room where I can quietly enjoy my tea, I have a room just for all my clothes, and I also have a guest room for any of my visitors.

If we go up the stairs to the second floor, there is a small kitchen area that's basically a snack bar.

And yes, I have a TV in this room. Here, my friends and I watch movies or shows together while we munch on our favorite snacks.

For example, I like to write in journals or even make my own paper diaries. I'll have a separate room for just this, with lots of pretty paper and supplies.

I also want to raise a cat so, of course, my cat will also have its own separate, safe, and comfortable space where it can freely go in and out whenever it wants.

Anyway, heading up to the third floor, there's a big rooftop space outside.

And… to be honest, I didn't really think about this floor. I guess I'm just leaving it open and empty for any visitors who need a place to stay.

If you head back downstairs to the living room and out through the glass doors, you will see big and beautiful cherry blossom trees.

Seeing cherry blossoms in the springtime is one of my favorite things to do. Something about them just makes me feel so excited.

I planted lots and lots of them, so I can see them all the time.

There are a few other rooms, but rather than talking more about mine, instead, I invite you to start building your own dream house in your mind.

What room makes you feel the most comfortable, the most safe, the most calm?

Thank you for joining me on a tour of my dream house and showing me a glimpse of yours. I hope it helped you ease your mind and maybe even helped you drift to sleep.

Fall asleep as Seori takes you through her dream house.

My Dream House Sleep Story

Back when I was younger, I didn't really know how to deal with my stress. If anything, I think I avoided dealing with it because I really didn't want to think about it.

I would just watch YouTube videos as a distraction until I fell asleep.

But I realized that ended up making me more stressed, because I wasn't giving myself the time or space to organize my thoughts. I was just running away from my problems.

I would write and write and write everything down, and I would feel so much lighter because I got everything off my chest.

So, I wanted to open up that time and space to you.

If you have things you need to just get out, let's take the opportunity now to do that together.

Go grab something to write with, and a journal or a diary if you have one.

If you don't, any piece of paper will do. And we can just start writing.

I usually like to play some music in the background, is that okay?

You know, when I used to look back at some of my earlier entries, I used to get so embarrassed—to the point where I would actually even rip the pages up and throw them away.

Well, I regret doing that, because at one point in my life, those thoughts were really important to me and at the center of my life.

Your future self will one day look back at what you wrote today, and instead of ripping up the page, you will appreciate the words you've written because it'll show you how much you've grown and changed.

I don't know what you wrote today, but I hope you feel much lighter than you did before.

I've made this my daily habit, and I welcome you to make it yours, too.

I'll be waiting for you right here, on the Mindset app. Bye!

Take some time to get everything off your chest and journal along with Seori in this soundscape.

Soundscape: Journal with Seori

Hi, my name is Seori, and I wanted to talk to you about growth.

I don't think I'm qualified to give anyone advice so I'll just share some of my own experiences, and hopefully you can get something out of it.

I first started doing covers of songs and posting them online. I just did it for fun because I loved music and I wanted to use it to express myself.

And then next thing I know, I signed with a label and was able to debut as an actual artist.

No longer was I singing by myself in front of a camera in my room. I was releasing my own music.

Now, I could have easily not done anything about all of this.

I could have just watched all of this happen to me and let it pass. Remain unaffected.

And so, I learned how to accept and process everything that was happening – and is still happening – in my life.

It's kind of like when you're trying to learn a skill.

You don't just do one thing just once and master it. If you want to get better at it, you need to first try.

You take it all in and process it, learn how you can do better next time, and then you try again.

There are moments when I feel anxious about the next steps I need to take, but when those moments come, I think about how far I've already come.

And you can do the same thing, too. Let's pause for a moment and turn around.

That's a long, long way. It must have been such a difficult journey, but I see you taking those steps up.

You really just need to take it step-by-step. And if that feeling of anxiety comes back to you again, remember to pause and look back.

Seori talks about her experience growing as an artist.

How I’ve Grown as an Artist

Whenever I have free time to myself, I like to go for a walk.

In Korea, there are a lot of really cute and quiet alleyways.

I like to take my time and slowly wander around and explore.

Usually, I like to walk around with someone I'm close to, so I wanted to invite you on one of my walks today.

I personally really like all four seasons, but if I had to choose one, I think I would choose spring.

I really enjoyed these walks when I entered my 20’s.

Something about these quiet times, just enjoying the fresh air and sunlight and light breeze, just remind me that I'm living out my precious youth.

It's a time where I feel like I can really just be myself, as Baek So-hyun, rather than Seori.

I didn't even realize time had gone by so fast.

Thank you for joining me on my walk around Korea's little alleyways.

I was able to just clear my head and just enjoy myself.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and see you again real soon.

Take a walk with Seori through South Korea’s alleyways.

Seori

21 Questions with Seori

My Dream House Sleep Story

Soundscape: Journal with Seori

How I’ve Grown as an Artist

Take a Walk with Seori

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