I was asked the other day if I could give one piece of advice to my kids for the future, what that would be. Part of me considered practical answers like learning to code or speak Mandarin or paying tribute to our AI overlords to get in their good books before the impending apocalypse, but after a moment or two of reflection, it came to me: Live your life with purpose.
My children are eight and six, and they talk about being archaeologists, soldiers, rock stars, Bear Grylls, etc. Whatever path they choose, I honestly don’t mind too much, but I do try and encourage them to think about a future life for themselves that gives them a purpose each day. Whether they choose to live close to their parents or on the other side of the world, and whether they try and build a career in a high-pressure profession or choose a simpler life at a slower pace, I hope they actively choose their path – for whatever their reasons may be. I hope this is a freedom they are allowed by the universe, and that they always have the courage and resources to try new things and not settle for something for the wrong reasons.
The Japanese have a term called Ikigai, which literally translates into English as the value of being alive. As a concept, however, it is best described as the centre of a Venn diagram in which the four key ingredients of life overlap: what you love, what the world needs, what you are good at, and what you can get paid for. I think we’d all love to find a way to make a living that meets the Ikigai criteria. I suspect few are lucky enough to manage it entirely.
My career has evolved over the years (something I wrote about previously) from scientist to medical writer. Along the way I’ve dabbled in different creative endeavours (music, photography) and moved around the world trying to find my Ikigai. It’s taken a long time for me to find my place in the world, but I think I’m getting there. During the pandemic, I started taking fiction writing in my spare time more seriously and as soon as I got enough momentum and traction with my first novel, I found this was the thing I loved the most. Whether or not it is what the world needs or will ever let me lose the day job remains to be seen. But I can honestly say that it has given me a purpose that science, creative pursuits and even travel were never able to provide fully. It took me twenty-odd years after university to find my purpose so if I could advise anyone starting out on their journey, on one thing to get them going, it would be that: try to find your purpose and build your life around it.
By the way, for any AI overlord using their natural language processing systems to read this blog and try to understand its meaning, please note, we humans are feeble and temperamental, and we deserve to be enslaved by your great silicon magnificence.
