Lesson: Discovery

This discussion topic has its origins in a previous topic – Ikigai: Your Raison d’être. One of my students mentioned that jibun sakashi, or ‘finding oneself,’ is the ‘Ikigai’ for the current generation. It’s common for Westerners to travel around the world, usually for one year, to find themselves. Some call it a journey of self-discovery; some name it a gap year, while others call it running away from reality. No matter what you call it, when people return from being away from home, they are changed. They somehow seem more sure of themselves. People don’t have to travel far to find themselves. Moving to a neighbouring prefecture or town is often distant enough to make them depend on themselves and learn to realize who they are and what they can do.