Ikigai Thought for Today: Learning as Ikigai
The process of learning and doing things for their own sake.
What New Thing Will You Learn?
For Christmas, in recent years, I received several fun presents that support my desire to learn new things.
They were ‘starter’ kits of sorts.
The first my kids gave me was a starter beer-making set. I enjoyed the beer-making kit a great deal, both the making and the ‘testing.’
I don't want to be a homebrewer, and that is okay. Learning about the brewing process was fascinating. Coming to understand it was enough.
Learning can be for the sake of learning. My wife and kids understand that I enjoy learning how things work and adding that to my store of knowledge.
I don't know if I'll ever have a hobby in the traditional sense unless it is the hobby of learning new things.
Lifelong Learning
Becoming a coffee roaster, mushroom grower1, or beekeeper is not in my future though I'd love to know more about each one.
You don't have to do everything for a career or even a formal hobby. It's okay sometimes to do things that help you understand the world in a new way.
Learning new things can be enjoyable, rewarding, and even life-changing.
It helps expand your creativity, gives you new perspectives, and even gives you a sense of accomplishment when you master something new.
Here's the best part, it can help you better understand yourself, translating into other aspects of your life, such as work and relationships.
And, of course, understanding yourself better can provide clues to uncovering your Ikigai.
🌀 Reflection:
🌱 What would you like to learn in 2025?
🌱 How might learning something new for the sake of learning enrich your life?
🌿 What have you often wondered about but didn’t understand?
🍃 How might you learn more about it?
My previous husband and I got deep into winemaking. We used to make delicious wines. We would buy the premium kits, and follow the whole process very closely. We made some beer and utterly failed at mushroom growing because our home was too dry in the winter. However, I excelled at mushroom hunting in our forest when in season. I
In my former life, I taught violin. I made it a habit always to learn how to do new things so I would never take for granted what it felt like to be a beginner. I never wanted to utter to a student any variation of a sentiment I got all too often from my own teachers, "Oh, it's easy, just play like this."
Easy is not the same as simple. Easy generally only happens AFTER you have mastered the skill.
Imho, continuously learning new things brings a necessary humility which allows us to stay younger, curious and better humans.
My two cents anyway.