Ikigai Thought for Today: Who were you before?

Seeing again what’s always been there, fresh and new.

Audio narration by David Marlow

Vintage effects on an original photo by Garrett Sears

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

— “Lost” by David Wagoner¹

People often ask me to help them 'find' their Ikigai.

That's not how it works. As Emily McDowell said, "You aren't a ten-dollar bill in last winter's coat pocket."

You aren't lost where you need to be found. The real you, your true self, and essence are right here.

When we are young, our Ikigai is easy to see. Over time life happens.

Defeats, disappointments, burdens, cultural conditioning, and other people's opinions, even those of well-meaning family and friends pile on top of our true nature.

Eventually, life conceals our Ikigai where it stays hidden, waiting.

Understanding your Ikigai is returning to that true self. It is a process of revelation and uncovering.

We see again what's always been there, fresh and new.

At least initially, the Ikigai Journey is an effort to remember who you were before the world told you who you should be.²

Quest well.

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1: David Wagoner, "Lost," in Traveling Light: Collected and New Poems (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999).

2: "Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?" is attributed to Charles Bukowski