GUEST HOUSE-GUEST COLUMNIST KEN MOGI

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

- RUMI

Introducing Nagomi

TODAY, MANY PEOPLE are feeling that the world is becoming complex and that it is difficult to find the right path in one’s life. From career choices to the agony of selecting from streamed videos, there are increasingly more possibilities to choose from, and yet so little time to make a decision. Worse, our society seems to be divided into echo chambers, and it is sometimes difficult to come to a natural and relaxed agreement, even with your loved ones and close friends.

It is no wonder then that people are feeling stressed, pressured, and even burned out. A typical modern life is a far cry from what you would expect from the idyllic ending of a fairy tale in which you live happily ever after. In this zeitgeist, peace of mind seems hard to achieve—unless you come to know the Japanese concept of nagomi.

My new book, The Way of Nagomi, explains how this venerable Japanese concept can be of great help in enhancing your wellness in this increasingly difficult world. The word nagomi means balance, comfort, and calm in the heart and mind. Nagomi could be about one’s relationship with the environment or the quality of one’s communication with people around you. Nagomi may be about a well-mixed and balanced blending of materials, as in the case of cooking.

Nagomi, as a word representing all these detailed, subtle, and rich nuances, defies a simple equivalent English translation. In kanji (the Japanese version of Chinese characters), nagomi shares the same character as