The [Japanese] word ‘ikigai’ is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s life worthwhile … . [It’s] used to refer to mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable. There is a difference between ikigai and the sense of well-being. Ikigai is more concerned with the future: for example, even when one feels that one’s present life is dark, possessing a desire or goal for the future allows one to feel ikigai.
‘Ikigai’ in older Japanese people Noriyuki Nakanishi, Age and Ageing 1999; 28: 323–324, British Geriatrics Society.
In 2013, I was winding down my work. I realized the term “retirement” detracted from how I wanted to approach my life. “Not working” seemed like a lame way to approach each day: my identity is not my former job titles.
I decided to start this blog so I could “consciously embrace every day of Life, Phase 3.”
“Life, Phase 3″ is how I choose to label post-work life. After I completed my final project in February 2016, a friend suggested I was entering Life, Phase 3.1.” Hence, the current title of this blog.
Back in 2013, I did not have a good word to describe how I wanted to frame my life. “Living with purpose” seemed misleading, and somewhat exhausting. More recently I came upon a Japanese term with no direct English counterpart: ikigai (pronounced eek-ee-guy). It captures much of how I wish to frame my life.
As best as I can understand the term, it means having reasons to get out of bed in the morning. Even if it’s not going to be a good day, I have reasons to be optimistic about the days ahead. And, I can surely find something good about a bad day to post in my microblog.
A few weeks after I finished my final work project in 2016, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While writing this post, today, I wondered what I had posted on the day of surgery in July 2016.
My partner, Dwight, sits quietly while I express gratitude and connection with friends and family. I did not feel unlucky because I generally don’t see life’s events in terms of being lucky or unlucky. The cancer “is what it is” and I’m grateful it’s being controlled, for now, and I can live a meaningful life. My recovery went well, I booked flights, and exactly 8 weeks after surgery, my backpack and I were en route to the far north of Hokkaido.
At the time I did not know I was feeling ikigai.
Ikigai gives individuals a sense of a life worth living. It is not necessarily related to economic status. Behaviours which make one feel ikigai are not actions which individuals are forced to take, but they are spontaneous activities which people undertake willingly. Ikigai is personal; it reflects the inner self of an individual and expresses that faithfully. It establishes a unique mental world in which the individual can feel at ease.
‘Ikigai’ in older Japanese people Noriyuki Nakanishi, Age and Ageing 1999; 28: 323–324, British Geriatrics Society.
In recent years, the self-help industrial complex has latched on to ikigai to sell books and services. Titles abound:
- Ikigai: the Japanese secret to a long and happy life
- How to reboot your life: the Japanese concept of Ikigai
- Ikigai for business
If self-help books really work, why are there so many of them? We each need to figure out for ourselves what gets us up in the morning and makes life worthwhile.
Note: The picture at the top of this post shows my bicycle tied up outside Open Book, a few blocks from our home. (See my previous post, Monday Morning Coffees.) Coffee and fresh crumb cake in the cafe got me up that morning.
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