Author: Chih Sang

Somewhere along this two-year journey, I wasn’t just traveling.

I was circling something.

At the time, I didn’t have a name for it.
It just felt like movement —saying yes, trying things, letting go, starting over.

But looking back now, I see the shape of it.

Something closer to ikigai.
That Japanese idea of where what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for… all meet.

I didn’t sit down and map it out.

There was no diagram. No careful planning.

If anything, I did the opposite.

I dismantled the version of life that looked “complete” on paper —career, stability, structure— and stepped into something far less certain.

Because something was missing.

Or maybe something was buried.

So I moved.

Across countries.
Across identities.
Across versions of myself.

And along the way, pieces started to reappear.

What do I love?

Creating moments.
Making people smile.
Standing in front of an audience and feeling that shared energy.

What am I good at?

Performance.
Connection.
Reading a room.
Turning something simple —like a bubble— into something meaningful.

What does the world need?

More lightness.
More joy.
More permission to feel wonder again.

And what can I be paid for?

That part is still unfolding.

But for the first time, it doesn’t feel like the starting point.

It feels like the natural result of alignment.

Because before this journey, I had pieces of ikigai —but they didn’t overlap.

I was good at something…. but didn’t love it.
I was paid well…. but felt drained.
I contributed…. but didn’t feel connected.

Now, the circles aren’t perfectly aligned.

But they’re closer.

And more importantly I’m aware of them.

This journey wasn’t about finding a destination.

It was about removing what wasn’t mine, until what remained felt true.

Maybe ikigai isn’t something you discover once.
Maybe it’s something you uncover… layer by layer.
And maybe the goal isn’t to perfect the diagram.

It’s simply to live closer to the center of it.

Where what you do, who you are, and how you feel finally begin to match.