Good Grief”s journey to improve death has the purpose of improving life. And the meandering recently brought me to the Japanese concept of Ikigai. That was when my friend Danielle from my local coffee shop handed me the little book Ikigai – The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. It shows you how to find your Ikigai and rewrite your life story.
Ikigai, roughly translated means “the happiness of always being busy” or the reason we get up in the morning. It is the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
The book shares how this philosophy becomes a life of simple action that complements a particularly healthy diet and lifestyle. These deliver longevity to the Japanese people of the Okinawa prefecture.
Okinawa is one of the world’s ‘blue zones’ where people live longer than the average. Others are Sardinia and the town of Loma Linda in the USA.
An idea that’s more attractive than living for a long time, is doing so with an enthusiasm for life and that’s what’s striking about the people of the blue zones. The book explores how this works for the people of Okinawa. It aims to help you find your Ikigai and rewrite your life story.
Rewrite your life story with Stephen and Sharlene.
Not long before Danielle gave me the book, Stephen and Sharlene Licciardello interviewed me for their podcast series ‘Rewrite Your Life Story.’
They asked me about how I rewrote my story. I did that when I shifted from journalism to the work of educating people about understanding death better. When I made that switch I had found my ikigai – although I didn’t know the word for it then.
Find your Ikigai and ‘rewrite your life story’.
To find out more about the blue zones, watch The Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81214929 .
But can the search for longevity be taken to the extreme?