Musings on my reason for being
Ikigai (生き甲斐,) is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being” or as Kobayashi Tsukasa, a Japanese psychiatrist, puts it “ the process of allowing the self’s possibilities to blossom”.
Whist in DC (as part of this Global Sports Mentoring Adventure I am on) we discussed the intersections of our lives, our passion, our work, our purpose. Jessica, one of my sisters from the Philippines piped up “You mean like ikigai?”. This was the first time I had heard of this concept and wrote a note to dig deeper when I ‘had the time’.
Your ikigai lies at the centre of those interconnecting circles above. If you are lacking in one area, you are missing out on your life’s potential. It seems to me I have been searching for a long time, wandering aimlessly around the edges of knowing what I love but not knowing how to make it my work, my life’s purpose.
The last year has catapulted me into what’s possible. It has been a cumulation of knowing deep in my heart (that which you love) that my role in the world is to improve young women’s wellbeing (mission). From personal experience of making so many ‘mistakes’ when I was younger to seeing these harmful situations continuing for young women today (that which the world needs). In every job, both paid and volunteering, I have wanted to affect change for young women (vocation) and finally I have been ‘allowed’ and been paid to focus solely on my purpose (profession). As I’ve mentioned before Kate Beecroft coined this term for the Shift team: Fran the head, Katie the hands and Chloe the heart. We intersect in all of these ways but I know what I bring to Shift is my version of the overarching strategy, the research, the fund seeking, the grit and the determination (that which you are good at). Which all leads me back to my passion: young women, the Shifterhood, the connections we forge to make the world a better place.
Have you found your ikigai?
– Are you doing something that you love?
– That the world needs?
– That you are good at?
– And that you can be paid for?
Among all of this is the external influences - the humans and experiences that have aligned to make all of this possible. Katie, Chloe and Rachel, Lifehack, my mental health, my Managers, my new sisters, my friends, my family, my work colleagues, Ollie and this programme I am on. You can’t do it alone. It is with the actions or words of others that help you to create your ikigai.
My challenge for you is to find yours. I often wonder out loud “How am I so blessed?”. What I think it boils down to is that I am finally following my heart. Living each day knowing that if this is my last I am doing everything I can to be the best version of myself.
There are millions of ‘problems’ in the world, but if we each focus on the one that speaks to our hearts we can make a difference; or at least die trying, not wondering ‘what if’?
