Is this the year of meong – a wellbeing trend I can actually master? | Emma Beddington

I recently stumbled upon a South Korean practice I’ve been doing for years. In 2024, it could be exactly what we need

I subscribe to Vittles online magazine, because reading evocative writing about food I’m too lazy and incompetent to prepare or seek out is one of my favourite hobbies, and because I always learn something. In a recent edition, I discovered a captivating Korean suffix. “There are no thoughts, just meong, the suffix in Korean used for activities of staring into stillness, like bull meong – staring into the fire,” wrote the author, Songsoo Kim, in a beautiful article with recipes about preparing a feast that I would dearly love to eat, but absolutely will not cook.

As a black belt starer into stillness – it’s my other favourite hobby – this spoke to me deeply. I asked Kim about it and she explained meong (also written mung) is colloquially used to describe zoning out, but without a negative connotation. This, she explained, was “an organic linguistic development, as more and more people started mentioning how staring at the fire at campsites or fireplaces together is rather healing.” There are also forest, foliage and water versions of quiet, empty staring and cafes where you can “hit mung”. “It’s a moment we all need,” Kim said.