IS MEANING THE MISSING LINK?

Why purposeful lives make us happier, and how to begin living one

- 

Once you start wondering whether the life you're living is truly yours, another question soon follows. If not this, then what? What would feel real? What would feel like mine?

We're often taught to look for answers in plans or outcomes: a better job, a clearer path, a new five-year strategy. But most of the time, what we're really searching for isn't a roadmap. It's a feeling. Not the adrenaline high of achievement or the comfort of stability. What we're after, often without realising it, is meaning.

And not just any meaning. A kind of meaning that makes us feel more fully alive.

Saori Okada, founder of Mogami 最上 Wellness, draws on Japanese traditions and mindfulness to help people reconnect with what matters most. Central to her work is the concept of ikigai, an idea deeply rooted in Japanese culture.

'Ikigai (生き甲斐) means “a reason to live", a sense that life is worth living,' Okada explains.

'And it's not something to chase or achieve, but something to notice in the flow of daily life, found in connection, curiosity, contribution, or simple joy.'

This quiet, everyday sense of purpose has been widely studied. 'Research across Japan suggests that people who live with a sense of ikigai report greater wellbeing, stronger social connection, and even lower mortality risk,' Okada says. 'It's a key part of how many Japanese people speak about vitality and longevity, not as something grand, but rooted in purposefulness in everyday life. Ikigai isn't about pursuing happiness, it's about tending to what makes life feel meaningful, which in turn fosters a more sustainable sense of wellbeing.'