Ikigai & Right Livelihood

I noticed the word, “Ikigai” (生き甲斐) is mentioned often in English lately, mostly in the context of motivational, psychological or spiritual discussions. It is a recent adaptation of a Japanese word like many other Japanese words that became well part of spoken English like sushi, futon, karaoke, emoji, etc. I love the word, “ikigai” and I’ve always appreciated its meaning. I would interpret as, “something meaningful to live for.”

I recently had a honor of being a guest on my colleague, Neal Collin’s podcast, Regenerative Real Estate. We had a heart felt conversation about the work we’re engaged in via the community of real estate professionals, Latitude. Neal mentioned the word, “ikigai,” during the interview, which made me really ponder on what it means to me and how it has been the driving force as I traverse this journey called, “life.”

Somehow since I was old enough to think about my possible career path, it was always clear to me that I wanted my work to be “meaningful.” I wanted to feel good about what I do. I wanted to know I was making a positive difference in the world no matter how small. I was probably naïve and overthinking, but this ideal steered me away from certain industries or career paths that I thought was somehow harmful. I found myself drawn to storytelling in a way that would inspire people, thus ended up working in documentary productions for many years.

“Right livelihood” is one of the Eight-fold Path in Buddhism. It’s certainly not synonymous of “ikigai” but “right livelihood” can bring about “ikigai.” It means you don’t engage in any professional capacities that steals, deceives or are harmful in any way. As I followed that instinct, I feel blessed that I got to work on so many meaningful projects in my life in various capacities, mostly in storytelling. I did always have a sense of “ikigai” as I do today where I am enjoying and feeling good about what I am doing. What could possibly go wrong with that?