Reason of being | Flow | Energy

Last week, I dedicated the last letter of the year to my sister and in doing so, outlined some learnings from the Far East. This week, I want to start 2022 still looking to the East with a concept from Japan: Ikigai.

But before anything, I received significant demand for body painting as a thank you for registering for this newsletter. That was for Christmas, now it is the new year and the best time to set someone up for success for 2022, family, friends, parents at your children’s school or maybe your friend at your pottery weekend class. No discrimination. An amazing present from me is still on offer to help motivate people to sign up, like poem writing, or a TikTok dance!

If you like what you have been reading share the love (not Covid) here, just click here and register.

Let’s make it happen!

So, we start the year in Japan …

In the space of a couple of weeks, several close friends have mentioned, or without knowing it, described a very strong and powerful concept: Ikigai. 

So, today the focus of this letter will be on the power, simplicity, yet difficulty of this Japanese concept, which means “reason for being”.

On a warm morning in August 2019, as I was finishing a breakfast of raw vegetables in a weeklong personal development seminar in sunny Tenerife, I sat down next to a fellow participant. 

As we started conversing, I learned about his life journey — from city life, he became a mystic and coach. He had found his calling and purpose, and was thriving in helping people reach their higher self.

As the conversation continued, we discussed what I do, what I like doing and other aspects of my life. “What do you truly like doing?” “What do you feel good about doing?” Always such difficult questions when you haven’t had the opportunity to think about the answer. A couple of weeks ago, a friend was shocked at one of her friends who couldn’t answer that question. I am not surprised. So many of us don’t know what we truly like or are good at. Is it what my parents, society, partner, or maybe my teacher in 6th grade told me that I am supposed to like or be good at? Should I focus on my weaknesses or strengths? 

By now, the breakfast tables were clean and as we were the only two left by this swimming pool, late for the start of the seminar, he ended up recommending reading a book called Ikigai. 

Fast forward a few months, I attended a talk where a gold medal-winning Paralympic athlete shared his story. Enlightening! I then started to chat with someone who recommended, guess what, Ikigai.

I don’t know for you but when two unrelated random people recommend something, I tend to look at it a bit deeper. And, wow, what a find! 

Some people call it Flow or Energy, but the Japanese have successfully captured the intrinsic meaning of being in a word of six letters (4 really as “I” is used 3 times). Japanese simplicity and perfection at the crossroads of your…

• Profession

• Mission

• Passion

• Vocation

But what better than a picture to capture the imagination, so check this out…..

QUESTION…

• What gives you Energy?

• How do you feel when you look at your calendar and activities ahead?