The Prince’s Secret

I never understood the importance of the book The Little Prince until this year. If you're not familiar with this tiny novel by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, it's the story of a space traveler who learns about love, hardship, and loneliness. Though first published almost 80 years ago during a bleak period of World War Two, it can help us understand how to survive and succeed in these bleak times.

A short passage early in the book paints a picture of what many of us experience today. The narrator crashes his plane into the Sahara Desert. He writes, "The first night, then, I went to sleep on the sand, a thousand miles from any human habitation. I was more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean." Who among us has not felt isolated at one time or another over the past 18 months? Students and teachers sit alone in the middle of a digital ocean and make the best of a difficult situation. Sure, the technology is amazing, but after class, we've got masks to wear, protocols to follow, and super-spreaders to avoid.

Isolation is like a jackhammer. It crushes happiness and breaks our joie de vivre. No wonder Netflix exploded into a global force: it's a tasty side dish for isolation: spend hours every day alone watching It's Okay to Not Be Okay on TV. The negative effects of isolation are well understood. It is a tool to punish people. Isn't that the purpose of jail–to segregate people? The ancient Greeks used isolation to punish criminals and thwart political enemies by exiling them from the city.

Spend time with The Little Prince, and you will find more than a quirky story. You might uncover a few clues to surviving and thriving during the pandemic. Here are two examples. The Little Prince, a young boy, travels from planet to planet searching for information and wisdom. He's always on the move. Movement, it turns out, is a cure for the corona blues. Step outside and breathe some fresh air. If you are new to Busan and don't know any of the trails that spider across the city, try Moontan Road. Running from Dalmaji to Songjeong beach, you'll find tree-lined mountain trails zigzagging alongside a rugged coast.

The second clue is mindfulness. The Little Prince is deeply moved by a rose, though not always in a nice way. The flower is a demanding creature that cannot be satisfied. Through this encounter, the Little Prince learns about people. And himself. The experience, however negative, teaches the prince to become aware of what's around him and what's in his heart. At one point, he says, "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." The timeless key to happiness, it seems, is less about the objects you don't have and more about the things you cannot see.