Journey to find your Ikigai : 3
What kind of books have you been reading lately? How many books do you read in a month? Do you read aloud to others?
The reason I’m asking is that you might already be a professional on a journey to finding your Ikigai.
Reading is probably the easitest form of traveling at home. When we read a book, we can forget about everyday life and immerse ourselves in the stories, interests, and ideas that fulfill our curiosity. We can view the content objectively or experience the story subjectively by placing ourselves in the protagonists’s shoes. You might suddenly realize that the content aligns with your values and circumstances or feel that it illuminates the direction or the path you should take next. It feels like something is pulling you towards the brighter future. This is the Ikigai-kan experienced while reading.
With smartphones and apps, you can read e-books, and for those who often get eye strain, are driving, or have visual impairments, audiobooks are also available. This ikigai journey of reading can be done anywhere that feels comfortable, not just at home.
However, let me give you one piece of advice. Reading to sense ikigai-kan should be a moment of voluntary mental journey, driven by your desire to read or listen. Being foreced by work or school assignments don’t bring ikigai kan and might often cause more pain and anguish.
What kind of books have you been reading lately?
The books I’ve recently read or listend to are ‘Kokorono Tabi (The Journey of the Heart)’ by Mieko Kamiya and ‘How to Know a Person’ by David Brooks. I alternate between reading and listening to Japanese and Enslish books, believing that doing this enhances my mental fitness, vocabulary, and communication skills.
What kind of books do you like? Fiction? Non-fiction? Fantasy? Autobiographies? Hisotry? Books on cooking or other hobbies? If you feel like you haven’t been reading books you want to read, why not stop by a book store on your way home from work or browse online stores to find something you’d like to read? Asking your friends what books they are reading might also be a great source of inspiration.
3 books for a new ikigai scholar.
- Ikigai-Kan Feel a life worth living
by Nicholas Kemp - Little book of ikigai
by Ken Mogi - Ikigai the Japanese secret to ta long happy life
by Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles
How many books do you read in a month?
I found some interesting data.
This is the result of a November 2023 survey conducted with 528 working individuals aged 20 and over in Japan. According to the graph, about 60% of working adults read at least one book a month, which is more people than I expected. Additionally, one in four reads three or more books every month, that can be interpreted as reading almost daily. Where do you fall in this spectrum? Are you among the 40% who don’t read? Or the 30% who enjoy reading one to two books a month? Or perhaps you are one of the 10% who read six or more books, the voracious reader? I fall into the group that reads two to three books a month.
For those who want to find Ikigai, read more books!
Reading a lot of books helps you become more articulate. Age doesn’t matter, you can expand your vocabuary even as an adult. This has been scientifically proven. Being more articulate allows you to express and convery subtle yet important nuances accurately when communicating. This benefits not only your communication with others but also your self-dialogue, the internal questioning and answering with your mind.
It’s like painting. A person with rich vocabulary can quckly paint a picture that others can easily understand using various colors and brushes of different thickness and shapes. Even with a limited vocabulary, you can create a wonderful painting, but you are limited to using primary colors — red, yellow and blue — and just a medium-sized brush. You have to mix the 3 colors each time to create the desired palette of colors and use the single brush to draw your fine lines and broad lines. It will likely take more time and effort. And time is often limited.
Since last year, I’ve been conducting career coaching sessions for university students and job seekers using the concept of ikigai. I’ve noticed that those who have a strong, vivid understanding of their values and strentgths tend to have a rich vocabulary. They’ve gained access to a variety colors and brushes to paint their self-portrait. They’ve become articulate enough to express themselves efficiently and accurately. This faster, more effective communication allows them to receive more frequent empathy and feeback from me and others. Therefor, I believe that people with a rich vocabulary can detect Ikigai-Kan more often and for longer periods compared with those with a limited vocabulary and articulation.
Lastly, do you read aloud to others?
The reason I ask is because I believe this is the ultimate form of reading-based ikigai exploration. Here’s some data to consider. In 2018, a neuroscience research team at Tohoku University conducted an eight-week read-alound study involving 40 pairs of young children and their families. The conclusion was, ‘Parental stress decreased, children’s vocabulary increased, and behavioral problems decreased.’
Notably, the stress that mothers felt regarding their children’s behavior significantly decreased, and the more frequent and longer the reading sessions, the lower the stress levels. In terms of children’s vocabulary, an eight-week period resulted in vocabulary growth equivalent to six month. That’s 3 times faster than the average growth. Additionally, listening skills, which I consider most important, improved by 10 points on the Token Test. It’s an all around win-win-win situation.
Therefore, for those with young children, take the time to read aloud to them. Taking a vacation to go to an amusement park or traveling together is great, but embarking on a reading journey at home can lead to a different kind of wonderful discovery. Both your child’s and your vocabulary and imagination will grow, and you’ll enhance emotional understanding, empathy, and the connection with the child. For many care-givers, children are a source of Ikigai. Simply reading books together can bring Ikigai Kan and reduce stress. If you haven’t had the habit of reading aloud, start today. For those without children, consider giving books as gifts for the children in your community and offer to read aloud. It’s a wonderful gesture and the one that brings feeling of ikigai to all involved.
Reading broadens your world.
Let’s review and summarize the key points. There are three reasons why reading is a great journey to find your ikigai. The act of reading enhances your curiosity and imagination. Moreover, reading many books enhances vocabulary and makes you become more articulate, enabling you to express feelings more quickly and effectively to yourself and with others. Reading aloud will broaden these positive effects to children and reduces stress for care-givers.
Dr. Mieko Kamiya lists six characteristics of ikigai in her book ‘Ikigai ni tsuite (About ikigai)’. Ikigai gives us a sense of purpose (ikigai-kan), which is not necessarily releated to practical benefits in life but driven by spontaneity, doing things because we want to do them. Ikigai is deeply personal and fits each person’s truer self. Bearers of ikigai create a value system in their mind and further develop their own unique world where they can live freely.
Reading helps you to become more articulate, expressive, imaginative and empathetic. Reading broadens your world where you can find your ikigai.
This concludes today’s musings of an Ikigai Scholar. Thank you for staying with me until the end.
