Finding your ikigai

Appreciating what brings value to our lives

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Photo by Riccardo Chiarini on Unsplash

Ikigai

By Yukari Mitsubishi

My first discovery of the concept of ikigai was watching a documentary about longevity. A large number of the residents of Okinawa, Japan, live to over one hundred and remain sprightly, healthy and free of dementia. In this documentary, many of the people the presenter interviewed highlighted the vital role that ikigai plays in their long lives. So what is ikigai? As with many languages that have words like this to denote a concept, there is no single word in English that encompasses what it means. At it’s most simple, it’s the things that give our life purpose.

After hearing about it on this documentary, I did what I always do when something grabs my attention — I bought a book about it! There were many to choose from and it was the cover of this one that attracted me and the blurb, which included this:

This is not a 'one size fits all' book. Instead, Ikigai encourages you to look at the details of your life and appreciate the everyday moments as you learn to identify your own personal ikigai.

A big part of my journey from being stressed, sad and anxious to the much calmer, happier me writing this today, was to try and remain in the present and recognise the pleasure to be found in little things. So this description resonated with me. But it was mainly about the beautiful cover - I’m a sucker for a cover!

As the author explains in the introduction, when she really thought about it she initially found it hard to explain what ikigai is, as it’s something that is such an ingrained part of the Japanese life and psyche. She breaks down the word for us ‘iki’ means life, and ‘gai’ means value. So we can take it to mean that it is the things that give our live value. And this encompasses the large and small things.

A person’s ikigai might be their family, work or hobby, a photography trip they have planned for the weekend, or even something as simple as a cup of morning coffee enjoyed with their spouse, or a taking their dog out for a walk.

What I love most about this concept is that ikigai is completely unique to us all. We all find meaning, value and purpose in different things. It was not surprising to me to discover that the Westernised version of ikigai has turned it into a financial endeavour, implying that is something that has to be capitalised. Mistuhashi corrects this impression:

A common Western misconception of ikigai is that it must be related to your career. Those of you familiar with the concept may have seen explanations of ikigai that use a Venn diagram consisting of four overlapping circles — what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for — with ikigai at the intersection of all four. I first discovered this definition when I was researching my article for the BBC and it took me by surprise.

Why? Because it limits the concept of ikigai to things related to work: in this narrow definition, your ikigai needs to be something you can be paid for. But for Japanese people, ikigai is a much broader concept, and one that is rooted in our everyday lives. Ikigai might be our work, yes, but it can also be our hobby, our loved ones, or simply enjoying the company of friends.

The book encourages us to look for our ikigai in the day-to-day moments we experience at work, at home, out and about in the world, and as part of our goals for life. So for me, I discovered it is another element of mindfulness that brings in a social element — as well as being about the things you do and aspire to, it’s about feeling a part of something, feeling needed and like you contribute positively to the lives of others, it's about having strong social connections.

Here are some of my ikigai (although I’m sure with my Western mind I haven’t fully grasped the concept!) — helping writers to develop their craft, writing my own stories and developing my craft, watching birds, doing qigong, going for walks with my husband, evenings and weekends spent with good friends, looking after lovely cats and dogs in the house sits I do, writing on Substack, reading the Tao Te Ching, reading novels, donating my time to support St Mungo’s homeless charity, eating masala dosa, swimming in the sea, believing that if we all try hard enough we really can have world peace, unity and happiness.

But one of the most important things of all that I took from this book is to spend time doing what you love and to keep remembering how amazing it is to be here to experience it all in the first place.

With love,

What are your ikigai? I’d love to hear them so please do let me know in the comments, or by replying to the email.

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