The Book of Ikigai by Ken Mogi (Ph.D)

The only ebook, and the final of Semester Break Series. This ebook was a gift from a dear friend, who very considerately gifted me the Indonesian translation of Ikigai, as she knew that I personally would have preferred the poetic Indonesian version. She's right hehe.

I found that reading this in ebook form was the best choice after all, since my ebook reader came with built in reading tools — every time a word confused me, the dictionary helped right away, so all was well.

One of Buya Hamka's most famous quotes goes along this line, "Kalau hidup sekadar hidup, babi di hutan juga hidup. Kalau kerja sekadar kerja, kera di hutan juga bekerja." And I found this quote to be most accurate to signify the elemental message in The Book of Ikigai.

It is a book that teaches us the philosophy of living life to the fullest. It first introduces us to the literal origins of the term 'Ikigai' and the attitude of Japanese, the majority of whom live by their own Ikigai. It is also rich with the stories of exemplary savants of sushi-making, business, farming, pottery, sumo and ballet, who all live by Ikigai and how that has affected their lives.

Perhaps it can be put in simple words, that ikigai is the philosophy of living a meaningful life by always seizing the moment, appreciating both every success and failure, and finding happiness in what we do - or by doing things that make us happy. That is ikigai. This philosophy of life gives meaning to our daily lives — a reason to wake up to, to live another day to the fullest.

It teaches us how by persevering with the smaller things we can do now, we can grow better at those things, even when it takes years, so long as we do it because it gives us happiness.

And the five pillars of ikigai are;

1. To begin small

2. To free ourselves from too many, and unrealistic expectations

3. To coordinate and harmonise with our surroundings

4. To be happy with the little things in life

5. To always be truly present in the now

I can't help but ponder, that as a Muslim, I should have more ikigai than I realise, and I should try to at least look out for them.

Intriguing ❤️