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All of us get philosophical after 2 drinks or when we are down and out and (importantly alone). Listening to Simon Garfunkel singing - ‘The bridge of troubled water’ or ‘Sound of Silence’ - when you think the world has beaten you or Bob Dylan singing ‘Blowing in the wind’ or ‘Tambourine Man’ - when you see a desperate man begging at your street - the song is just a start of a chain of thought which may lead you to shape your next step.
Yesterday, feeling a bit mixed & being alone at home, I picked up Ikigai (a famous book) by Hector Garcia, which I had read a few years back - like a novel. I had read about ikigai in an HBR article many years back and spent some time thinking through the ikigai diagram (see pic).
I generally flipped and read about Wabi-Sabi: In brief Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese concept that shows us the beauty of the fleeting & changeable and imperfect nature of the world around us. Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things which are flawed, incomplete.
In a way the concept tosses away the whole ideal of perfection - which is what we all chase and is mostly a western concept. Why should one believe in this suddenly, having polished our presentations to make it perfect after making multiple changes. Because we know - that’s the way nature is - imperfect & I guess we are all tired after trying to be perfect all the while - as a role model & the work we do.
For me, philosophy always gives meaning to my life - the imperfect one. I also feel there is not one philosophy and hence in that sense it’s imperfect - else why would I take the effort of reading a Japanese philosophy. The core purpose of philosophy is not the philosophy but the feelings it evokes and hence allows you to reflect back in your life & help shape a better future.
While ikigai is a philosophical book a lot of my philosophy is imbibed by music - It was 2019 when I attended a Kabir singing session organised in someone’s balcony in Bangalore. A session by Vipul Rikhi, where he took 1 Kabir song, explained the meaning of it and actually made all of us sing. It was one of those A-Ha moments when I fell in love with Kabir songs and listening to Kabir has become almost a daily ritual. Probably one of my best finds in 2019 was Soundcloud, a platform for amateur singers.
I discovered so many singers who may not be known to the larger world but are singing for the joy of singing. Listening to Kabir & thanks to auto play led me to Baul Geeti (for bongs) or Qawali & Rajasthani (hindi) folk music.
Most of these songs in a way are talking about the same thing - it’s a short life, nothing is permanent so let go - live in the moment enjoy the moment (in Japanese there is a related concept called ichi-go ichi-e which means “the moment exists only now & won’t come again - so make the best of it).
Let Go!
Day 35: 200 words/day challenge (519 words)
