An ‘Ikigai’ Inspiration For Retirees

It is never too late to unleash your creative demons

To put it simply, ‘Ikigai’ is anything that inspires you to wake up every morning. It could be an early morning saunter in nature, waking up your grandchildren, preparing a fresh cup of tea, reading a book, engaging in creative work, etc.

Most people, having spent most of their life in workplaces, find it difficult to come in terms with the new reality as soon as they are retired. They do not know what to do with themselves, they lose their meaning in life — a reason to wake up.

Tatsuo Horiuchi, a retiree who lives in Japan, tackled this issue in a rather creative way. He tried to figure out a unique creative challenge that he could pursue for the rest of his life. He thought of recreating the beauty of nature as he observed in his daily living, through painting.

But interestingly, he did not want to spend a single penny on buying tools for painting. He preferred to make use of what he already has, his computer. He found a solution through a free software program in his computer, but one which is rarely thought of as a painting tool: Microsoft Excel.

He discovered the possibility that Microsoft Excel tools can be utilized for drawing and painting. The only thing was that he needed to practice and learn to create beautiful paintings with it.

He gave himself ample time to master it. He said to himself “…in 10 years, I wanted to paint something decent that I could show to people.” Such a mindset had given him the freedom to pursue his challenge at his own pace.

He persisted day by day with his unique creative challenge — one which was personally interesting for him — and had acquired for himself the title ‘Michelangelo Of Microsoft Excel’.

I hope this is an inspiring account for those retirees or any older people who think there is nothing left of them. Perhaps the retired life could be a new beginning with fresh and never thought of possibilities.

Here is a sample picture of Tatsuo Horiuchi’s painting created on Microsoft Excel.