ikigai

Have you seen my ikigai? Because it is awesome…

Watched this documentary the other evening with husband, How To Live Forever by Mark Wexler. As the Wired article states, “The majority of the film is dedicated to interviews with oddball characters like Martin, many of them centenarians with astounding vigor…”

That’s a really good word: vigor.

Rhymes with “rigor.”

Made me think –anemia affected both my personal physical and professional health.

I had lost my “ikigai,” the Okinawan philosophy of purpose for life, getting out of bed, what keeps one going. Well, to be fair, this has happened before to me. I lose my ikigai from time to time. It’s not really lost, just misplaced. It goes wandering off on its own mental adventures, and unfortunately leaves me with no gas and takes the credit card.

So, how is Stella going to get her groove back, “Stella” being the teaching profession and “groove” being helping our students maintain both academic rigor that is meaningful, purposeful, and engaging? Oh, that word again–engaging.

By going back to the basics: what keeps me engaged?

• Reading–anything, everything, all the time.
• Great blogs: The Line, Education Rethink, etc.
• Novels, great, big, small, tall: currently deep in the Game of Thrones series, and yes, not ashamed to admit I was inspired by the HBO series. Yes, the books are better. Big victory this year: recently student told me he liked the Hunger Games novel better than the movie. (Let that sink in a bit. That’s right. Enjoy.)
• Writing. I have been doing more writing for my own joy than in many previous years, writing for myself, writing stupid, trashy fanfiction pulp, and loving every minute.
• Playing games, watching Jon Stewart with my husband, and making sure my boys are okay.
• Trying to take care of myself – I am just chalking this year mostly up to my body rebelling, and it’s time to put this rebellion down. Where are your rebel friends now? Nothing serious, but health stuff that will be taken care of as soon as school is out…