Purpose

“Purpose” is our theme for June. The month of June feels like a time when we have a good amount of energy – summer is coming, and we might feel revitalised and alive. It feels like a good time to consider what our purpose is – what gets us out of bed in the mornings, gets us motivated and enthused? What’s so important about having a sense of purpose anyway? Apparently, it can link to having a long life......

Ikigai:

In our Book Club (held on 9th June), we’ve been reading “Ikigai” – which has the subtitle of “The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”. They look into the secrets of Okinawa – the Japanese island which has more inhabitants over the age of 100 than anywhere else in the world. They found that “ikigai” was partially responsible – this can be translated loosely as “the happiness of always being busy”.

The residents also live by the principle of “ichariba chode” – which means “treat everyone like a brother, even if you’ve never met them before”. Clearly, feeling part of a community is very important – the residents talked about nurturing friendships and the importance of celebration, cherishing each day.

Ikigai Broken Down:


The authors of “Ikigai” have broken down this mysterious word into four main elements: passion, mission, vocation and profession. Let’s look at each in turn:

1 – Passion – what do you love? What gets you enthused – what can you talk about for hours? What are the things that you get lost in, where time passes without you even realising. We need to have passion to find our ikigai.

2 – Mission – we can link this to our values – what drives us – gets us riled up – gets us wanting to take action? How do we want to save the world? Or a small part of the world? Having a mission is something that can keep us going, even through times of difficulty.

3 – Vocation – what’s our calling? Is it something we can be paid for? Is it something that we do in our spare time? If we have a vocation, it might not feel like work at all.

4 – Profession – what are you good at, but can also be paid for? This isn’t just about “work” – but it’s something that we can feel proficient at – where we have skills that we’re utilising, and we’re continuing to learn and grow.