For this entry, I decided to find a test online and see what it produced for me. I found the test here: (link). I will say it takes a bit of time, but this is what I was given at the end:
They all seem to revolve around similar things: theology, philosophy, people ... with one exception. My Mission. Mathematics?? Wth??? REALLY??? There is no way that fits with the rest nor with who I am!! If anyone knows me, math and I do not mix. However, if you remove the 'mathematics' and 'science', and replace it with something like social or people or ethics or theology ... then it would fit. At least, that's what I think. The rest definitely resonates with me.
I want to insert a comment about one of the categories that really bothers me. I've struggled with this many times and I don't like what it suggests: the "I can get PAID for" part.
When I look at this, it all seems to be so very 'Western' for me - professions and vocations and getting paid. A very Western thing. I mean, if this is supposed to be integrated into who you are and weave through all of your life, how does this fit when you are 80? I just rejected it ... until I came across a book by Tim Tamashiro, and he had a wonderful statement in there: (p 83) "Your Ikigai doesn't have to be something you get paid to do. It's something you will feel rewarded by doing." This changes it from an external expectation to an internal reward. Now that I can understand! That sounds so much more non-Western to me! I notice, in the chart above, what they identify as 'being paid for' interestingly also has to do with traits that are good to have in the employment world. That's another interesting way of looking at it. Characteristics that others can benefit from. Not jobs to be paid for.
A summary - based on what the chart above says, it seems that the area I need to get into has something to do with philosophy or theology. (No ah-ha here!) Or, I like to see it as - thinking. That big 'Why' that I find myself asking of myself and others more times than I can count. This fits in with so much - from counseling to encouraging to inspiring to even writing. Maybe that's my 'Ikigai'? ... the Big Why ...
It happened that today I engaged in a bit of a chat with an old friend of mine. He and I are very similar and at the same time very different. It is a very good friendship - nothing more. In our exchange, about AI and the impact on the creative world we are in, the discussion slipped around to turning this into something more than just for the two of us. Something that others could not only benefit from but maybe engage with as well? We got to talking about creating a Salon. True to my (recent) form, I got excited and remembered something that was once like this, wasn't it? My mind remembered something where that was the point - to engage in discussions. As it would have it (more often than not), what I was thinking of WAS something called a Salon! It is a gathering of people, by a host, where learning can happen. The tradition of French salons was literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries where ideas were exchanged. They were for those who desired to engage in thinking and sharing environments. Now, I'm not surprised that they also encouraged groups like feminist and Marxist thinkers of their times; today, I think there is the potential to encourage groups to discuss anything. Provided that there are some basic ground rules. Wouldn't that be wonderful to have a place where people could talk without vitriol? with curiosity and the desire to understand? Wouldn't it be great to have a place where disagreements were ok, maybe even encouraged because something more important was the goal? Not "I'm right/you're wrong" kind of thinking but ... "What if?" and "What are the pros and cons of this?" and "What do you mean by ...?" and lots of 'I wonder about ...' and ... my favourite, "Why?"
If my friend and I found a way to provide a 'modern-day salon', would you be interested in participating? This wouldn't be just he and I talking, it would be a collective group of thinkers asking the above questions to understand our world better. To change it? not sure ... unless by thinking we can? Maybe it's the characteristics that come with thinking outside of judging that can make a change. Even a small one. Even on something like how to disagree and still respect. I like to think of it as our diversity woven throughout our unity. Is that even possible? I'd like to think so.
Maybe these entries have begun to bring me closer to understanding my Ikigai. Maybe, at the end, I will have something more than what I had at the beginning. But, you know what? It's always been there. I just had to take the time and tread this path to see that. We still have seven entries left to go! I wonder what else is waiting for me to find again!
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