When a friend sent us a VENN diagram of the Japanese concept of Ikigai last week, we found we couldn’t get its big fat question out of our mind. What is our reason for being? (And then there are the questions within the question).
We were so intrigued, we began to hunt for more of a sense of it…
….Ikigai is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life, or the things that make one’s life worthwhile…
…
…what makes you jump out of bed in the morning?
It also refers to…
…mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable
…
…Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self.
…
Such a search is important to the…belief that discovering one’s Ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life. For some, it might be work, hobbies and raising children.
…
It’s not linked to one’s financial status.
We especially love psychiatrist Kobayashi Tsukasa description of Ikigai:
Ikigai: the process of allowing the self’s possibilities to blossom.
With that in mind, we hold the question: What is our Ikigai?…
At Medium Ulara Nakagawa writes of the three questions that helped her better realize her Ikigai.
The statements about Ikigai, above, are from Wikipedia‘s potent little article, edited and re-ordered.
