I’m sorry I’ve been gone from these pages for the last two weeks. I lost my momentum, you see, and it’s so hard to gain momentum back once it’s been lost.
I love the video at the start of this post. I ran across it years ago when I was doing graduate work toward becoming a reading specialist. I had to create a learning module on environmentalism, found this video, and have been in love with it ever since. It just occurred to me right now that it fits perfectly with my post today on the Japanese concept of Ikigai. Well, not the concept itself, but what it has come to mean to me in my life. You’ll see by the time you reach the end of the post. Don’t worry, it’s not too long.
I first became aware of Ikigai two or three years ago when it was trending on the internet and in bookstores. It seems that every year or so a new one-word lifestyle concept that promises to change our lives gains a lot of interest, inspires countless Pinterest posts and a couple small-scale books, and then fades back away. Think “hygge” from Denmark, or to a lesser extent “Lagom” from Sweden.
What Ikigai loosely translates to is having a purpose for your life – an overarching reason for why you get up in the morning. Something that makes your life meaningful and drives your efforts each day. When Ikigai first became known in a widespread way I latched on to it. At the time I had grown beyond my post-cancer “what if it comes back?” anxiety and was in a more reflective frame of mind. I began realizing that I would either die relatively young or not-so-young, but the timing was really out of my control and so not worth thinking about. What I wanted to concentrate on was living a life that mattered – creating some sort of a legacy. What did I want people to remember when they remembered who Michelle was? This became important to me, and Ikigai fit right into this mindset.
Many people outside of Japan are interested in Ikigai because there seems to be some correlation between the practice of Ikigai in certain communities in Japan and the longevity of the people in those communities. In fact, some reviews of the books on Ikigai I’ve seen emphasize that goal: “Fall’s biggest imported lifestyle trend is ikigai, and it just might help you live to 100”; other reviews emphasized the other pressing desire of just about all of us – living happier, more fulfilling lives. I really didn’t turn to ikigai for either of those reasons. Instead, Ikigai seemed to me to be a way to approach life in a way that prioritized creating my legacy.
And what would that legacy be? After thinking for a while, I decided that I wanted to be known for my love for others. I decided that my ikigai would be to manifest love in every aspect of my life. I took a piece of paper and wrote “manifest love” in the middle and circled it, and then drew several lines radiating outward to the edges of the page, like the spokes of a wheel or rays of sunshine. On each line I wrote an aspect of my life or a specific person in my life – Sam, Chris, Chloe, Family, Skyler (he was still with us at the time), Friends, Community, Workplace, World. Then I brainstormed specific things I could do to show love in a concrete way to each person and in each situation. I still refer to my ikigai chart and I think that this weekend I will update it to reflect my current situation (Skyler gone, working from home, etc). The goal, however, will stay the same.
The world is a crazy place right now. Let’s face it, the world has always been a crazy place, for as long as humans have run the show, but it feels especially crazy these days. And it feels especially out of our control right now, like a runaway train threatening to jump the tracks at every turn. Your response to this could be anger or despair (and believe me, I’ve seesawed between both of those feelings, especially in the last 24 hours). I’m choosing to go back to what I can control – myself, my attitude, my actions. I’m reacquainting myself with what I can do to project love into the world.
I choose to be the hummingbird.
Love,
Michelle xoxo
P.S. The hummingbirds that gave us so much joy this summer are currently traveling to warmer climes. I look forward to seeing them again next Spring.
