We Are All Trying Here

Sadness is contagious. I am not sure what’s so magnetic about it. I feel drawn to it. The 2026 South Korean drama, We Are All Trying Here is a sad, melodrama which would probably bore you at first. Even the characters are not very likeable at first; but eventually you will fall in love with the drama and its characters.¶

To fall in love is to have courage to be vulnerable together. Ever since, I have read that phrase somewhere I kinda find insecurities and vulnerabilities more attractive. The drama is full of such characters who are insecure and vulnerable and failures of sorts. Maybe something to do with my own personal bias, but that’s for later. Lets focus on the drama.¶

The desire to be understood is universal. Park Hae Young, who also wrote My Mister and My Liberation Notes presents the characters’ desires in a brilliant way. We express to be heard. We all long to be understood and validated and in failure to do so, we become sad, and angry and miserable and lonely. At times, we might even stop expressing.¶

Being aware of our emotions is a difficult act. At least, I feel so. The drama skips this act altogether. The main characters wear an emotion detecting watch. Throughout the drama, it forces the characters to stop guessing or intellectualizing their feelings and confront what they are actually experiencing in real-time whether it’s stinging jealousy, deep-seated insecurity, or crushing loneliness. But, it is honest, something that probably needs courage to do especially for people similar to our characters or myself.¶

‘A cry for help’ is the hardest thing to do. We are shown one emotion that the algorithm fails to detect. I also think it’s true. Helplessness or even asking for help is terrifying because it requires complete surrender. But who can we lean on? To be honest, as a teacher, designer, friend, or as a human being, I feel utterly helpless when it comes to asking for help or when someone asks for help. Perhaps, I am also trying here.¶