Emma: The Book of Happiness

Although I have read many self-help books to get some advice on how to live a happy life, the last book of the same category that I enjoyed reading, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life written by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, opened up a new perspective on having a satisfying life and inspired me to explore Eastern philosophy. 

For starters, I have got a new principle, ikigai, from the book that has guided me to find satisfaction and happiness in my life recently. According to the writers, ikigai is a Japanese philosophy that helps Japanese find a purpose in life. Even though ikigai does not have an exact translation into English, the Japanese word has a variation on its meaning such as the reasons that make you want to get up every day, the value of life, or the reason for being. Personally, I like the meaning of ikigai that means the reason for being as it helps me value what I have now, who I am at the present time, and what I am going to contribute to society. However, before reading about ikigai, I used to define my happiness in life as success in my career only, because I had learned that doing what you love will bring you happiness. It sounds good to follow the concept, doesn’t it? However, what if you could not get a job that you love to do for the reason that something that was out of your control happened? Over the course of my career, I was able to work in the industry that I wanted, but I used to feel dissatisfied at the job many times, as I did not know my purposes for doing the jobs and how that impacted the society and the country. I used to work in the banking industry where I would spend most of my time finding new clients to give loans because the end goal of my job was to generate much revenue for the bank and, in the end, I could receive big bonuses and get promotions. I think that was an extrinsic motivation which does not fit with who I am. Moreover, because I would really focus on my job at the bank, I also failed to realize that there were many things beyond the bank and the banking industry. Outside my job, I am interested in cooking, gardening, history, sociology, philosophy and much more. After finishing reading about ikigai, I approached my definition of happiness and satisfaction in a new way: I prefer to live my life by balancing my work and out-side the work to fulfill and satisfy all of my interests and that means I will invest my time and money to gain new experience. 

Second, because of ikigai, I started learning more about Eastern philosophy as I think that such philosophy is simple and practical. Before learning about the Japanese philosophy of ikigai, I used to seek much  advice on how to be happy at work and in life from mainstream thinkers and publishers such as Adam Grant, a famous American writer on career advice, Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and Harvard University. Although the recommendations are excellent, I think they are not applicable in some contexts, especially in my context. For example, I read and followed an advice that having multiple careers will make you happier than having a single career, as it will allow you to follow and fulfil your passions outside your main career. The article gives an example of a man who got a full-time job as an investment banker, but he pursued his passion for jazz music by having a second career as a music producer. The advice is  good, but I think there are few people who can make it come true. With this advice in mind, I really focused on building my second career that I wish I could achieve in the future. However, I ended up feeling unhappy and never attained it, as it told me that I had to look forward into the future. The moment when I look forward into the future, I start ignoring what I have and what I am doing at the present. In contrast, Eastern philosophy such as ikigai and Buddhism emphasizes being in the present. Therefore, with that in mind, I began to find and do my best on the job that I have now and that helped me be happier than I was in the past. 

In conclusion, I am happy that I could find the book on ikigai which introduced me to the principle of finding happiness in life and motivated me to learn and give value to Eastern philosophy.