Ikigai is the Japanese concept concerned with ‘the happiness of always being busy’. It’s also been likened to ‘a reason for being’.

I’m one of the those people who feel that they need a purpose in life. I sit in that camp where people are often accused of ‘living to work’ instead of ‘working to live’. People say this like lots of work is a bad thing. I’d say it’s only a bad thing if your work drains you and you don’t have any balance in your life. I may have had an argument with my therapist about this one, so both of those are ideas I’ll likely revisit in other posts.

I love the concept of ikigai because it explores the notion of doing work with purpose that enables you to get lost in the flow. There’s that magic ‘purpose’ word again. For me, I want to make a positive difference in the world. I have a number of privileges and feel a sense of duty to use my talents to do the right thing. If I can find a way to bring that purpose to life as my work, I think the sense of fulfilment would be vast. I might work a lot of hours, but I’d get energy from doing it. That’s what I’ve understood ikigai to be about.

And back to that flow point? It’s about enjoying and being so absorbed in what you do that time escapes you. If that’s what you achieve in your work, is ‘living to work’ a bad thing? To me, getting lost in the energising flow of what you enjoy sounds great for anxiety and depression.

So in a moment of reflecting on this topic, on ikigai and the ways in which I get lost in the flow – often in writing, often in talking about diversity and inclusion – I want to bring it much more centrally into my everyday existence. Some of that will be this blog, but eventually I hope it’ll infuse my work.

Welcome to the journey to achieve that.