It’s always interesting when a part of Japanese culture (that isn’t anime or manga) becomes really popular across the world. When I was job hunting in my last year of university, I heard the term “やりがい (yarigai)” so many times! And as it turns out, yarigai (which can be translated as “the motivation to work” or “the motivation to do” is a narrower version of “ikigai”.
In The Little Book of Ikigai, Ken Mogi introduces this Japanese concept. Mogi describes ‘ikigai’ as “a Japanese word for describing the pleasures and meaning of life” and “the reason for getting up in the morning“. In other words, it’s your purpose for living. While this is probably a world-wide concept, Mogi clearly shows how the Japanese version of ‘purpose’ is unique through the five pillars:
- Start small
- Release yourself
- Harmony and sustainability
- The joy of little things
- Being in the here and now
One thing that struck me about these five pillars is how ambition or big dreams aren’t necessary for one to discover their ikigai. In fact, finding pleasure in the small joys in life is one of the pillars of ikigai. As I understand it, ikigai is about learning to forget yourself and embracing your interests, no matter how small they are or how little your chances of becoming famous through them is.
Personally, I found this to be a pretty liberating concept. I’ve talked about this obliquely on the blog before, but I find that the “hustle culture” of our times has a habit of making hobbies tiring and sometimes, performative. The concept of re-orientating my mindset so that the focus is on being the best I can, whether it’s writing a story or a blogpost, sounds very appealing, if slightly out of reach right now.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the lessons in it. I’m actually really glad that I bought a copy of this because I can see myself revisiting this book – I definitely want to continue developing my ideas about my personal standards for success/happiness (especially since we’re in the last quarter of the year!)
Hi Eustacia–Your book review reminded me of something I saw on FaceBook from another person’s post and I shared it to my page earlier this after noon about the joys of doing, even if you cannot be expert at it. It’s the process and experience that counts. I’ve reproduced it here:
“In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one to respond – and his response is magnificent: “Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:
“I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.
“What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
“Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.
“Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?
“Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.
“God bless you all!
Kurt Vonnegut”
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“When I was 15 I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of ‘getting to know you’ questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, ‘Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.’
“And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: ‘I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.’
“And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could ‘Win’ at them.”
Good words no matter who said them!
I love this! Thanks for sharing! It’s true – a lot of the pleasure is in the doing/practicing!
This looks like a really sweet and inspiring book!
It is! I really recommend it!
The cover (and the book itself!) seem just *so* Japanese! It’s nice to have those books on our shelves that we return to.
I know right?? I am so glad I bought this one!
Too Japanese…. I had to really look for the flow as an outsider
Awww that’s a pity! But yes, it’s a very Japanese concept!
I really like this concept and the ideas behind it. And I appreciated Warren’s story and what the archeologist had told him. I’ll have to remember that for my daughter when she gets down on herself. She may not be the “best” at what she does, but she has fun doing it. And for me, that’s what is important, especially at her young age. In a much simpler scenario, it made me think of how I often hear book bloggers do better when they focus on one genre or type of book–it draws in more followers, or rather loyal followers. I realized long ago that would never be me. I like to read a variety and don’t like to stick to just one type of book. I don’t read for other people. I read for myself. When I stray from that, reading (and even blogging) loses something for me.
Anyhow, this definitely sounds like a book worth checking out. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, I agree that enjoying what you do is the most important thing! Whether it’s talking about books or ballet for Mouse – enjoying the act of doing is much more important than being the best!