Ikigai 生き甲斐
What’s Your Reason for Being?
The smell of paper and dusty books filled the library. I am sixteen years old, nestled in the corner during a study hall. Technically, I am supposed to be working on a project for English class. Instead, I’m doodling large swirling circles on my paper that resemble tornados. I can’t help but daydream that, maybe like Dorothy, I could be whisked away.
Remember being sixteen? Your whole life ahead of you, which is both exciting and frightening at the same time? When you wondered things like, who will I be when I grow up? What will I do? How will I make my mark on the world? And what is insurance?
I guess I was always an overthinker.
But this day, this day will change all that. For the moment, anyway. It’s the first day I’m brave with my writing.
The words hit me. Like a wave rising, ready to pound the shore. If I don’t catch it, it will burst onto the sand and then pull away, sucking itself back into the expanse of the ocean. I must act quick. I grab my pen …
