In today’s final chapter, we drill down to the fundamental purpose and conclusion of this week’s letters.
Once we’ve managed to wade through the dark night of grief, growth, and overcoming how do we get clear on our passions and purpose?
We see this concept supported in something like Ikigai, an ancient idea which emerged among various Japanese philosophies.
In Okinawa, a small island off the coast of Japan, this idea dominates almost every community. Not accidentally, these islands harbor the highest concentration of people living above the age of 100 in the world.
Aside from building strong, robust communities based on mutual love and support, they say that happiness is their biggest contributor to their longevity. And they say their happiness is based on Ikigai.
Ikigai is the intersection of
what you love
what you’re good at
what you can get paid to do
and what the world needs.
In Ikigai we clarify the idea that happiness is based on knowing what matters most to you, and finding a way to share it.
You could argue that the world isn’t actually made better by sacrificial people, but happy people (to tie back to our first article).
And perhaps, as we are seeing here, happiness is based on finding what you care most about and then finding ways to share that with the world.
It’s not about what you have or don’t have, if others praise or dislike you, even if you get everything you want or not.
Happy people tend to be in love with the process of showing up for their passion everyday, and finding ways to share it with others.
And, if we overlay this with the classic archetype that Joseph Campbell captures in his work The Hero with 1,000 Faces, we see that sometimes the world accepts our passion, and other times rejects it.
The final note on happiness then is to be in love with the process, and surrender the results.
In sum we find that:
Happy people are buttressed by accepting, affirming community
they have discovered their purpose (often through a process of grief),
and they love the process of pursuing their purpose
even if no ones else understand or accepts it
And so there you have it: the profile of a happy person.
But enough from me.
What do you think?
Are you happy?
Did you find happiness in this way or another?
What does happiness mean for you?
I’m excited to hear from you, and look forward to sharing a weekly rundown with you in the morning.
Until then,
Matt
Happiness and Habits Ch. 4