<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Greetings,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I plan to enjoy WOSONOS this weekend, by interacting with all who elect to be there. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I came across this Japanese word recently; it describes how I feel about working in Open Space. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Learning this word helped me to more fully understand my motivations around this:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">Ikigai</b><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> (生き甲斐, pronounced </span><small style="font-size: 11.899999618530273px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif;" class=""></small><span title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Japanese" title="Help:IPA/Japanese" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">[ikiɡai]</a></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">) is a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">Japanese</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> concept that means "a reason for being." The word "ikigai" is usually used to indicate the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile.</span><sup id="cite_ref-:1_1-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.199999809265137px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai#cite_note-:1-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">[1]</a></sup><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> The word translated to English roughly means "thing that you live for" or "the reason for which you wake up in the morning."</span><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.199999809265137px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">[2]</a></sup><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> Each individual's ikigai is personal to them and specific to their lives, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(ethics)" title="Value (ethics)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">values</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief" title="Belief" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">beliefs</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">. It reflects the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-realization" title="Self-realization" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">inner self</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> of an individual and expresses that faithfully, while simultaneously creating a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_state" title="Mental state" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">mental state</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> in which the individual feels at ease. Activities that allow one to feel ikigai are never forced on an individual; they are often spontaneous, and always undertaken willingly, giving the individual satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.</span><sup id="cite_ref-:1_1-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 11.199999809265137px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai#cite_note-:1-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">[1]</a></sup><br class=""><div class="">
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