April’s non-fiction recommendation is a short book about making life meaningful and in the process, living a long time. Centered around the Japanese concept of Ikigai, Hector Garcia Puigcerver and Francesc Miralles bring the knowledge from the East to the West giving us the tools to live better. Take a look at the book and then read on for my thoughts.
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
By Hector Garcia Puigcerver and Francesc Miralles | Goodreads
Bring meaning and joy to all your days with the internationally bestselling guide to ikigai.
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai–a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa–home to the world’s longest-living people–finding it is the key to a happier and longer life.
Inspiring and soothing, this book will bring you closer to these centenarians’ secrets: how they leave urgency behind; keep doing what they love for as long as possible; nurture friendships; live in the moment; participate in their communities; and throw themselves into their passions. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own personal ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find the joy in every day?
Takeaway from Ikigai
This book was recommended to me by two friends at different times. A short non-fiction that takes a close look at Japan and how people live as long as they do there. It is a treasure trove of knowledge, going into the many things that we can do to have longevity. The book has snippets of interviews with centenarians and supercentenarians who have lived a long life, trying to gauge from them what they did to have survived this long.
It’s not rocket science. By taking care of our bodies and mind with proper nutrition, movement and flow, we experience enjoyment and fulfilment. The desire to live continues and we continue. So simple! I love it!
I was pleasantly surprised when Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life mentioned concepts I was already aware of and expanded them to a whole other level. Two come to mind:
Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is a well known and loved book by close friends. I haven’t read it yet but I want to. I did not know that he developed logotherapy and the perspective to living that it represents. I was having a hard day when I was reading the chapter. I felt seen by the words:
1. A person feels empty, frustrated, or anxious.
2. The therapist shows him that what is feeling is the desire to have a meaningful life.
So many times, I try to fix the issue that is causing me anxiety rather than truly seeing it for itself. I just want a meaningful life. This puts control in my hands in how I can make it meaningful. I sat there looking at this second point for a long time.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and the concept of Flow were an integral part of my education career. I even wrote about flow back in 2018! But that was from a teaching and learning lens. Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life shares strategies on how to attain flow in everyday tasks as well as research Owen Schaffer’s seven conditions for achieving flow. I love that reading is considered an activity in which we experience flow! The idea in Ikigai is to find things that we can immerse in and hence it makes sense to talk about flow.
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life is a well-researched book. It cannot answer the question of what your ikigai is but it does provide the gentle encouragement to find it. It separates living from striving at work or looking forward to retirement. It is about everyday. It interweaves stories about living and societal values of Japan into a quick read that I took a lot from. I want to end this review with two quotes that resonated with me:
Once you discover your ikigai, pursuing it and nurturing it every day will bring meaning to your life. The moment your life has this purpose, you will achieve a happy state of flow in all you do.
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Thanks for making it to the end of this review! Another book to check out to bring meaning to life: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. That was the March Non-Fiction feature. Read the review here.
Which activities bring meaning, purpose and joy to your life? Tell me in the comments.
Thanks for the informative review about ikigai. I found mine in writing children’s books. When I’m creating, the days zip by! And I’ve met some interesting people along the way.
Thanks for sharing, Sherrill! Reading and writing open us up to such a big community. 🙂