Ikigai - a reflection on life
Posted: 19 May 2018, 05:39
The Japanese concept of Ikigai is fascinating. A complex interplay of factors influences our happiness in life and our sense of meaning - two things closely connected.
The different factors are shown in this diagram. Doesn't it invite our use as tarot spread? We enter our lives from the outside, from four directions.
The first layer:
1. what you love
2. what the world needs
3. what you can be paid for
4. what you're good at
We can even smell the four elements/suits here. What we love is highly motivated Fire/Wands - what the world needs selfless, giving Water/Cups / what you can be paid for pragmatical Earth/Pentacles / and what you're good at objective, rational Air/Swords. (It's not THAT clear cut of course).
This outer layer shows us the basic given things in our lives, those we don't choose or decide. These are our first four cards.
Now where these concepts meet and merge, four new constellations emerge, and they're the outcome of our decisions in life, at least partly - choice of profession and life style etc. They're four cards that show our personal life.
5. Mission
6. Vocation
7. Profession
8. Passion
You can see on the diagram how each of these four ingredients of our lives is the outcome of the four basic factors.
But there are drawbacks to each of these four personal cards.
9. Delight and fullness, but no wealth
10. Excitement and complacency, but sense of uncertainty
11. Comfortable, but feeling of emptiness
12. Satisfaction, but feeling of uselessness
Each of these drawbacks shows what happens when three of the outer factors meet but one is lacking.
A bit like complementary primary colours, when you mix Blue, Yellow and Red. If you mix Blue and Yellow, you get Green - and the complementary colour is the one that is left, i.e. Red. Red and Red-less, so to say.
The whole diagram reminds me a bit of a colour wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colours
differently arranged of course - growing towards the outside instead of the inside.
But back to Ikigai.
Actually, the only place where everything meets is the central card, the focus, the place where we can find meaning in life and thus, happiness and satisfaction.
13. Ikigai
Our personal place where our passions, talents, practical needs and the needs of the world are in perfect harmony.
Since our lives are not perfect, at different times, we'll give more attention to one area over the other. For example, when I had young children, my own talents and also our financial needs mattered less than taking care of them. Later, these "world needs" were balanced again with the other factors and didn't weigh so heavily.
I think this is a beautiful way of making us thinking about our choices and points of balance in life, but also reflect on our basic Givens. I see this as good basis for a self analysis where I stand, where my happiness lies - and if I'm not happy and satisfied with my life and life choices right now, what might be the reason?
So let's put this all together as spread:
The primary factors of life: what is given
1. what you love
2. what the world needs
3. what you can be paid for
4. what you're good at
The secondary factors of life: what we make of it
5. Mission
6. Vocation
7. Profession
8. Passion
The tertiary factors of life: the drawbacks of our choices
9. Delight and fullness, but no wealth
10. Excitement and complacency, but sense of uncertainty
11. Comfortable, but feeling of emptiness
12. Satisfaction, but feeling of uselessness
Where everything comes together:
13. Ikigai - where everything meets and life has meaning
The Orbifold Tarot might be the perfect deck for this reflective spread.
The different factors are shown in this diagram. Doesn't it invite our use as tarot spread? We enter our lives from the outside, from four directions.
The first layer:
1. what you love
2. what the world needs
3. what you can be paid for
4. what you're good at
We can even smell the four elements/suits here. What we love is highly motivated Fire/Wands - what the world needs selfless, giving Water/Cups / what you can be paid for pragmatical Earth/Pentacles / and what you're good at objective, rational Air/Swords. (It's not THAT clear cut of course).
This outer layer shows us the basic given things in our lives, those we don't choose or decide. These are our first four cards.
Now where these concepts meet and merge, four new constellations emerge, and they're the outcome of our decisions in life, at least partly - choice of profession and life style etc. They're four cards that show our personal life.
5. Mission
6. Vocation
7. Profession
8. Passion
You can see on the diagram how each of these four ingredients of our lives is the outcome of the four basic factors.
But there are drawbacks to each of these four personal cards.
9. Delight and fullness, but no wealth
10. Excitement and complacency, but sense of uncertainty
11. Comfortable, but feeling of emptiness
12. Satisfaction, but feeling of uselessness
Each of these drawbacks shows what happens when three of the outer factors meet but one is lacking.
A bit like complementary primary colours, when you mix Blue, Yellow and Red. If you mix Blue and Yellow, you get Green - and the complementary colour is the one that is left, i.e. Red. Red and Red-less, so to say.
The whole diagram reminds me a bit of a colour wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colours
differently arranged of course - growing towards the outside instead of the inside. - itten wheel.png (98.62 KiB) Viewed 2162 times
But back to Ikigai.
Actually, the only place where everything meets is the central card, the focus, the place where we can find meaning in life and thus, happiness and satisfaction.
13. Ikigai
Our personal place where our passions, talents, practical needs and the needs of the world are in perfect harmony.
Since our lives are not perfect, at different times, we'll give more attention to one area over the other. For example, when I had young children, my own talents and also our financial needs mattered less than taking care of them. Later, these "world needs" were balanced again with the other factors and didn't weigh so heavily.
I think this is a beautiful way of making us thinking about our choices and points of balance in life, but also reflect on our basic Givens. I see this as good basis for a self analysis where I stand, where my happiness lies - and if I'm not happy and satisfied with my life and life choices right now, what might be the reason?
So let's put this all together as spread:
The primary factors of life: what is given
1. what you love
2. what the world needs
3. what you can be paid for
4. what you're good at
The secondary factors of life: what we make of it
5. Mission
6. Vocation
7. Profession
8. Passion
The tertiary factors of life: the drawbacks of our choices
9. Delight and fullness, but no wealth
10. Excitement and complacency, but sense of uncertainty
11. Comfortable, but feeling of emptiness
12. Satisfaction, but feeling of uselessness
Where everything comes together:
13. Ikigai - where everything meets and life has meaning
The Orbifold Tarot might be the perfect deck for this reflective spread.
