RM × SFMOMA | From “Self-Love” to “Awakening” | BTS “Reflection” Lyric Translation & Commentary

🌸 Introduction

Hello, this is Mayu 💜 Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Chapter 4 of my WINGS series looks at Namjoon (RM)’s solo track “Reflection.”

In this song, he repeats the line:

“I wish I could love myself.”

To me, “I want to love myself” also sounds like a cry to awaken.

— In a world that tempts us to live half-asleep, how do we find our true selves?

He asked that question through music, and now he continues it through art.

Excerpt + Paraphrase

I know it — everyday life is like a film. We each carry different stars and stories.

At times I think, “I hate myself”… honestly, quite often. So I come to Ttukseom, just standing there, to look at who I am again.

🪞 Chapter 1 | “Reflection” = A Soul’s Awakening

Reflection is a prayer of a lonely night. Standing by the river at Ttukseom and gazing at his own shadow, he quietly asks, “Who am I?”

“I’m happy, yet I’m unhappy.”

That is the moment when the world’s “common sense” collides with the soul’s truth. His eyes had already begun to see the light.

🎨 Chapter 2 | RM × SFMOMA = Dialogues in Silence

In 2026, RM’s exhibition will be held in San Francisco. The works gathered there speak not with flashiness, but with quiet.

RM chooses art when words can’t (or mustn’t) speak.

Because art restores our ability to think. He offers people not “lessons” but discoveries.

Thinking is where awakening begins.

So the exhibition becomes an assembly of those who carry truth through silence when speaking truth is forbidden.

🔥 Chapter 3 | The Seen World vs. the Felt World

Art isn’t about copying what we see; it’s the act of reaching for what we can’t see.

Through long travels, RM has met artists who shape the “unsayable” with form, light and interval.

It’s an extension of Reflection: staring into the dark, holding the quiet, and choosing the courage to keep feeling anyway.

🌈 Conclusion | From “Reflection” to Awakening

Reflection = the beginning of awakening. RM × SFMOMA = the continuation of awakening.

Ten years ago, RM searched for light within. Now he lights that same flame for the world through art.

Art doesn’t shout; it whispers truth.

My Thoughts

The first artist I met through Namjoon’s recommendations was Yoshitomo Nara. Around the time BTS faced anti-Korean controversies, RM still encouraged us to look at Nara’s works; following that thread helped me inch closer to truth.

In a world where speaking truth makes you look “mad,” we need people who can tell it through art. I deeply wish for a world where truth is ordinary — where RM and the members can write lyrics freely again.

I believe those who protect truth in silence will be rewarded. May “Spring Day” come soon.

Full Translation — “Reflection”

I know — everyday life is like a movie. We each carry different stars and gain different stories.

We pass through different nights and mornings, live by different scripts. This film isn’t boring; I find it truly interesting.

Day by day, I want to shoot it better. I want to pat myself, praise myself.

But sometimes — I hate myself. Honestly, quite often I do.

Then I go to Ttukseom (Han River). I just stand there, watching the familiar darkness and the people wrapped in laughter; the beer in my hand makes me smile a little.

Then fear softly comes closer and holds my hand — “It’s okay, it’s all ‘2, 3.’”

I wish I had friends too. This world has another name: “despair.” My height feels like another diameter of the earth. I am both my own joy and my own worry.

Every day repeats the like-and-dislike toward myself. That person staring at the Han River — that’s me.

If our collars brush, maybe it’s fate. Or we met in a former life — perhaps we collided countless times and still meet here again.

People in the “dark” seem happier than in daylight. Everyone seems to know their place, but I alone walk because I must.

Even so, blending into the crowd here feels a bit easier.

Ttukseom swallowing the night hands me a different world. I want to be free — and free from freedom, too. I’m happy now, yet unhappy. I’m watching myself, here in Ttukseom.

I wish I could love myself. (repeated)

⭐ What Is “Awakening”?

To notice the will to save someone. To walk with courage in prayer, without fearing solitude. BTS’s music is a guide back to our capacity to think and to feel. Don’t be afraid; step into the light — because you already have wings.

[From “Magic Shop”]

E — Equanimity
Equanimity is steadiness in difficulty. It helps in good times and bad. Chasing the highs keeps us from being here-and-now, just like running from the lows. Nothing lasts; keeping an even mind clears our head and will.

If you want love, give love. If you want joy, bring joy to others. If you want forgiveness, practice forgiving. If you want peace, create it around you.

Preview

We’ll continue the “WINGS — Film Release Special.” Thank you, as always, for reading 💜

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*Lyrics & translations are shared for personal ARMY commentary. All rights belong to BIGHIT MUSIC and the original authors. Please contact me for any issues.