What is Ikigai?

Maybe a good place to start with this 6-week of journaling assignment is to define what this word means. According to Tim Tamashiro, a Canadian entertainment personality who traces his roots back to Okinawa (which is where this philosophy comes from), he defines Ikigai as: "The reason you get out of bed every day. It is your purpose. It is an attribute that everyone has. Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes it is not." But here's a catch - when you realize what your Ikigai is, you also see how that purpose, that reason, links you from your birth to your death. It is a constant in your life, it is how and why you were created. 

I've lost track of the number of times I've read about others struggling with 'What is my purpose?' and 'Why am I here?' When I began reading and looking into this thing called Ikigai, it became obvious to me that ... if you can figure out your Ikigai, you can answer that question. The answer then becomes obvious. 

So, off I went (and am still on that journey) to answer that question - what is my Ikigai? 

Along the way, I came across a little book (through Amazon) called My Little Ikigai Journal by Amanda Kudo and to be honest, I like the way she laid things out. She grouped 4 circles overlapping into the following four areas: Your Passions, Your Gifts, Your Values, and Your Possibilities. But also along the way I found a plethora of other sources that labeled the circles: What you love, What you're good at, What the world needs, and What you can be paid for. I realized I had a problem with that last circle: 'What can you be paid for?'. When you're young, what you can be paid for doesn't blip on your radar. When you're older, what you once could be paid for might no longer be an option. So, I (personal opinion) think that many others have "westernized" this concept. I think, like so many other things that we 'borrow' from other places, cultures, and times, we make it fit into what we think is right and our Western way of thinking. I like, much more, how Kudo lays her questions out and how she links them together. 

Then, today as I was hunting for a visual to include in this post, I came across the one that is at the top. This one I found on a Japanese website. And it included things that were different than the other two. Things I found very interesting. Notice how 'your purpose' is one of the flower petals and not the central point? And how 'what you can be paid for' doesn't even show up at all? 

Over the next 6 weeks, I hope to reflect on various things I find on this topic and apply it to myself. I wonder if I can get to the end of the 6 weeks and have an inkling of what my Ikigai might be. I think I'll start by reflecting a bit on the 4 specifics from Kudo's book - My Passions (what I love), My Gifts (where do I excel), My Values (how I see the world), My Possibilities (where can I make a difference). I will also search out other sources (books, videos, etc.) and share those and apply myself to that information as well. It is my hope to find things beyond the Western interpretation of this concept. I wonder how it will fit in with the above 'flower'. 

This is Week 1, Entry 1. Many more to come!