In this thought-provoking video, Nick Kemp dives into the often misunderstood concept of ikigai, shedding light on its multidimensional nature. He challenges the popularized Western interpretation, particularly the oversimplified Venn diagram. Nick highlights the cultural differences in understanding and explaining ikigai, contrasting the Western tendency to seek clear, concise definitions with the Japanese approach, which embraces ambiguity and complexity.
The multifaceted essence of ikigai
Nick: My message usually is, there is no Venn diagram and try and let it go. But it's interesting, and I think this highlights a difference between the West and Japan. In the West we have a tendency to seek short definitions, and we assume we understand something.
Whereas in Japan, Japanese, they're often uncomfortable explaining ideas because they feel they don't know enough, or they just know they are difficult to explain because they're ambiguous or they're kind of vague, almost in nature -- they're multi-dimensional. And that's something ikigai is.
And as you said, producing it to work. It's almost dangerous, because it's like saying, work is the most important thing in your life. And clearly, for most people, it's not, it's family, it's friendship, it's expressing your creative self, it's helping others.