In this issue
What’s your ikigai?
Mary Cassatt sale
Mistakes about Stoics
Do you have an ikigai?
The Japanese word ikigai, which according to Google now enjoys widespread use, refers to a passion that gives value and joy. There was even a bestselling book titled, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesco Miralles. Somehow I missed it all until now.
In Japan, ikigai is no big deal; it’s just a part of life. The Japanese, especially anyone over a certain age, tends to know what the source of their zest for life is and is busily engaged in it.
My current ikigai (maybe more of a goal?) is my abstract landscape project. I’m learning printmaking skills and progress is slow, but the deadline of hanging a show by June 5😳 provides motivation. I’ve made a decision to enjoy the process, which is a big part of ikigai. It can be thrilling to pull the paper off the plate and see the color and texture that’s building up with each subsequent layer. More to do, more to learn.
Mary Cassatt’s ikigai
I recently saw “Painting the Modern Woman,” painter/printmaker Mary Cassatt’s episode of Exhibition on Screen. Cassatt had an ikigai: she was driven to become the professional equal of a man — an ambitious goal for a nineteenth-century woman. She was stubborn, independent, and passionate. Though she didn't explicitly make political statements about women's rights in her work, Cassatt's artistic portrayal of women was always done with dignity and the suggestion of a deeper, meaningful inner life.
Check out the selection of items featuring Cassatt’s self-portrait in my Etsy shop (15% off if you use this link).
A good Stoic admits when she’s wrong
In a previous newsletter I mentioned that I’m interested in Stoicism. I like its emphasis on developing self-mastery and resilience, which I said was stoicism with a ‘lowercase s.’ But here’s what Donald Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, says:
Uppercase Stoicism is a whole school of Greek Philosophy. Lowercase stoicism neglects the entire social dimension of Stoic virtue, which has to do with justice, fairness, and kindness to others.
I stand corrected. Now I prefer Stoicism with a capital S, the whole ball of wax — including the old dead guys who promoted the four cardinal virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation.
I never want to ‘persist in my own ignorance,’ so here’s a t-shirt I designed featuring a quote from Marcus Aurelius (you can get one, too):
What’s your ikigai? Let’s discuss in the COMMENTS section.😊