Ikigai #2

Adding on…but only the right things (for me)

First, but relatedly:

What I’m reading from, this week: (aka Alchemical ingredients)

• How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith. I’m almost done with this—it is no wonder this book has won the acclaim it has. I think all Americans could stand to learn and understand better the role slavery played over the entire course of American history—as well as the artifacts that remain, still, in present day America—in form as well as in hearts and minds. Did I say “still?” Still.

• Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Just started in anticipation of finishing the Smith book above. I love deGrasse Tyson—heir apparent to Carl Sagan. Fruits of my reading have already paid off (see below) and I’m only 30 pages in!

• The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony by Will Tuttle. This has been on my TBR shelf for some time—he just published a brand new book so I promised myself to read this one first before starting his new one (which I’ve already bought). This is NOT a diet cookbook, it goes deeper than that—I’ll return to this in future posts.

• The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu—Derek Lin’s translation. For the past few years I’ve been reading a chapter a day from a Tao translation—last year I spent all year in daily study of 5 different translations and interpretations. And yet I’m still such a beginner!

• A Course In Miracles—I’m working through the workbook section, one lesson per day for 365 straight days. Today was Lesson 131.

• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. This is the one book of fiction I’m reading now and I’m currently stuck. I’ll get through it—I promised myself by the end of this year….

• Poetry—daily. This week from Charles Bukowski and David Whyte.

It’s impossible for me to read just one book at a time. Obsessive readers, my kindred anam caras, will understand this. We don’t ask ourselves when we meet “What book are you reading?” We ask instead “What BOOKS are your reading?”

So many books, so little time.

This prelude ties into my Ikigai!

Ikigai II

I posted last week that I had a goal to reach my 100th birthday. Alive. And thriving while doing it. I mentioned in passing the actual number wasn’t important, and it’s not, really. Well, maybe. Besides, I no longer make goals for myself—they are not conducive to the way of Being I’m finding I should have been living all along. I’ll refer back to this counter-intuitive concept in future posts.

I mentioned as well I have been a student of longevity trying to learn more about how humans can prolong life, not to simply amass more years, but to engage with the world, fully, and in wellness, so as to be of benefit to others as I have benefited from them. This is a part of what my Alchemy of a Journey is all about.

Americans especially, but as the American way of life spreads across the world (especially regarding dietary habits, consumer/materialistic/consumptive lifestyles, egocentric thinking, etc), more human Earthlings worldwide, as research amply proves, leave meaningful and productive years “on the table” as individual life spans, and quality of life spans, decrease. In other words, humans have the potential to live much longer lives, to a higher quality, than we currently do—and it appears this is simply because of the choices we make on a daily basis.

Last week I also referenced Dan Buettner’s wonderful Netflix documentary “Live to 100: The Secrets of the Blue Zones.” Great inspiration, this. I re-watched (so you didn’t have to, but you should!) episode one—the one in which he focuses on the blue zone found on Okinawa, Japan. It was THAT region, from that culture, that gives us (me) the concept: Ikigai.

In Okinawa, Buettner details six key characteristics (aka Alchemical ingredients, y’all!) of the culture that seem to contribute heavily toward that population’s longevity:

• The eating of a wide range of medicinal foods that contain…

• High nutritional density with low caloric values (mostly, but not exclusively, plant-based)

• Hara Hachi Bu—the philosophy of eating to 80% fullness

• Balance—moving the body naturally to maintain stamina, muscular finesse, core strength, and balance (thus decreasing the threat of falls)

• Moai—maintaining close relationships with family and a small number of meaningful friends

• Ikigai

  

Here’s some fun Synchronicity:

In the comments section in one of the Notes I posted related to last week’s post, fellow Substacker and new friend

Amanda Saint

responded she, too, was a student of Ikigai and referenced her own writing on the subject. It’s too good for me not to reference that and credit her for advancing more of my thinking (it is SO worth your own read!):

Finding your ikigai

Amanda wrote:

As the author [Yukari Mitsuhashi in her book Ikigai: Giving Every Day Meaning and Joy] explains in the introduction, when she really thought about it she initially found it hard to explain what ikigai is, as it’s something that is such an ingrained part of the Japanese life and psyche. She breaks down the word for us ‘iki’ means life, and ‘gai’ means value. So we can take it to mean that it is the things that give our lives value. And this encompasses the large and small things.

A person’s ikigai might be their family, work or hobby, a photography trip they have planned for the weekend, or even something as simple as a cup of morning coffee enjoyed with their spouse, or a taking their dog out for a walk.

What I love most about this concept is that ikigai is completely unique to us all. We all find meaning, value and purpose in different things. It was not surprising to me to discover that the Westernised version of ikigai has turned it into a financial endeavour, implying that is something that has to be capitalised.

~ Amanda Saint

Thanks Amanda! It’s wonderful to engage with other like-minded individuals who take seriously their lives such that they strive to live each day with intention. I highly recommend her Substack site especially if you, yourself, are exploring writing as a way of making sense of your own life.

In Buettner’s documentary, Ikigai is further defined as one’s own unique mission in life—one’s sense of purpose. Here, again, I think our Westernized culture is found lacking. I think our values are skewed toward success as measured by material wealth and the totality of consumer goods amassed. This is a generalized statement but if you give some thought to it, there is such the ring of truth here. If you doubt me, just take some mindful moments to look closely at the content and amount of commercials in our lives that push consumable goods and material possessions on us. Commercials (not all, but too many) are geared toward exploiting our sense of inadequacy and lack! We could successfully combat that with a healthy Ikigai!

In a grand show of synchronicity, noting above I just picked up Starry Messenger by Neil deGrasse Tyson, look at what I found, what he wrote, on page 38:

Without using the word, deGrasse Tyson is talking about Ikigai—and how the Elders of the culture pass that on to future generations of Okinawans simply by living their life.

Buettner considers Ikigai to be among the most powerful factors in Okinawan longevity. If you know who you are to your core, if you have a very clearly defined and articulated sense of purpose driving your every day living, then making healthy and meaningful day-to-day decisions becomes easier as you have a solid foundation from which to draw strength and abundance.

I like to characterize this as “My Why!”

Some of My Why:

As I’ve evolved myself more toward a true Human Being as opposed to a Human Doing, I’m identifying less with specific roles and titles (no longer principal, educator, wage earner, consumer, home owner, etc), and more along the lines of WAYS of Being in the world that serve a higher purpose. I’ve been influenced by a number of mentors, teachers, and philosophies that have included Zen masters, Buddhism, Minimalism, Taoism, Wayne Dyer, Ram Dass, Michael Singer, John O’Donohue, Mary Oliver and so many, so much, more. But all are grounded in a sometimes hard to articulate, yet easy to feel foundation of spirit and soul.

For now, I’m trying out the living of a life of excellence whereby I bring my best game to each moment without worrying about outcomes. I’m working on not caring one iota for how anything turns out in my life—if I’ve brought my best game to the moment, the result will be as it is regardless of my desire to want it to be different.

“I don’t care about results, about how things turn out!”

There, I said it clearly and boldly. I’m not perfect at this yet, but I can definitely see the value in adding this as an essential component of my Ikigai, my WHY. The more I say it, the more it becomes a reality for me. This is NOT a cultivation of apathy, nonchalance, laziness, or laissez faire attitudes. Far, far from all those. Living a life of excellence is a high standard—but with that as THE standard, results just don’t matter—they take care of themselves all by themselves. What matters is the Being within the doing—regardless of the outcome. Besides, everything that happens is for my benefit anyway. Everything.

(There is more here to be written about.)

I’m working on surrendering to each moment, as it is, while cultivating “the witness” within—the one deep within who is mindful that I know that I know that I know. Ritual, reverence, veganism (for compassion as well as health), cooking with an organic standard, Zen meditation, service (eg Hospice volunteering), honoring the sacredness of place (through organic gardening and sustainable, restorable landscaping practices), intentional reading and writing, and the daily practices of compassion, kindness, and gratitude flavor my existence in ways and depths I never before imagined, yet alone explored. These comprise my current Ikigai—and each day I’m afforded the opportunity to explore each in relationship with the rest of the world.

The Alchemy of a Journey, my Journey, could be summarized as “My Ikigai.” With each reflection, with each post, with each Eldering story from my dad, I have been able to “get more clear” about my own sense of purpose. When I was younger, I really didn’t get Socrates, but now I do:

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

~ Socrates

More than anything, perhaps, I want to live an authentic life worth living. A life of meaning judged so not by anyone else, but by my own standard of excellence.

“Hi! Why are you?”

Me: “Hi! How are you?”

You: “Good.” (Even if you’re not.)

Me: feigning interest: “Nice.” (Even if I don’t really care.)

End of convo, we go on with the rest of our lives.

Convo? That’s a convo? Nope. But it is a typical greeting.

How interesting we could make our world should we substitute the mindless greeting “How are you?” with the deeper “Why are you?” It would be fun to hear how those close to us would answer. Heck, it would be fun for them to hear how WE would answer! (Fun for us to hear ourselves too!) Do YOU even have an answer?

What’s YOUR Ikigai? It could be argued you have one regardless of you being able to articulate it. You’ve either consciously chosen the life of purpose you are living, and aligning to, OR one is being given to you that you are passively following. The Centenarians on Okinawa have a clear Ikigai—it is a part of their culture and individual way of living. It is not a secret and can be easily seen by how they go about their days.

Intention, choice, behavior—other’s can see how we’re living our lives because our actions help to tell our story. Ram Dass shared: “I went to see the great Rabbi not to hear him recite the Torah, but to watch him tie his shoes.” Why we live each moment will be how we life our life—why we live each moment is also how we will die when that time comes too. Ikigai is about our life’s purpose, our why, and, it turns out, about our death’s purpose too. It’s all a part of our story.

Having a benevolent and spiritual Ikigai is about being the intentional Author of that story.

Having a clear and benevolent Ikigai is good for longevity.

What’s yours?

Why are you?

Live, Laugh, and Love

Always and Ubuntu,

~ k

And with Ahimsa!

🙏🏼

But then again, it’s all just my opinion, man! Except for the Ikigai, THAT’s for reals!

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