Dr. Yasuhiro Kotera
Academic lead for counselling, psychotherapy, and psychology at the University of Derby.
These two years have been very challenging, partly because of autism. The two boys wake up, like every hour or hour and a half through the night crying. The only way to calm them down is to hold them and to stand up. Lying down doesn't work, so you have to stand up. And then when they get sick, even a tiny touch of a cold, that gets worse, and they wake up like every 40 minutes. But connecting to a sense of Ikigai, not taking things for granted and appreciating what we have has really helped us to get through those difficulties.
Dr. Yasuhiro Kotera
Academic lead for counselling, psychotherapy, and psychology at the University of Derby.
If one sees the meaning, or intrinsic nature of experience, more like ikigai, they can appreciate that change. Probably these people may not see it as a problem, it’s something that.. some learning experience or some different path. That's where ikigai and resilience come across each other. That resilience is also this ability to bounce back from difficulties. And for those who live with ikigai, can appreciate and find meaning in life's difficulties.
Dr. Yasuhiro Kotera
Academic lead for counselling, psychotherapy, and psychology at the University of Derby.
My kind of personal philosophy, it's also linked to ikigai is that, live now as if now is the happiest time of your life. Now maybe the happiest time of your life, and live now without doubt. I mean it personally helped me to go through those waking up at 3 am and carrying a crying baby, and walking around. In 10 years, I'll look back at this point and I may feel, "Oh, that was difficult, but that was still a very happy time", kind of thing. So I think when talking about experience, recognizing the value of now is very important.
