Aloha Friends, 

A lot has changed since the last IKIGAI update. While there has been a lot of fear circulating, I have also witnessed a lot of action coming from a place of love. I think if we remind ourselves that in the bigger scheme of things, challenging times occur for us, not to us. 

In the story of IKIGAI, our hero young Choichi is faced with challenges that help guide him and grow into his life's purpose, or IKIGAI. So if we look to the coronavirus for lessons, maybe we will start to see how people are helping one another, how Mother Earth has essentially sent us to our room to think so she can heal, how we can stay in our safe space and heal ourselves and encourage others to do the same. 

Rumi said, "The wound is where the light enters," This is true for me, it was true for young Choichi, it's true for Mother Earth and Humanity.  

And now for the IKIGAI update part:

 If you follow Flor Kaneshiro on Instagram, you will see that she has been sharing her progress on the illustrations for IKIGAI. They are absolutely timeless and beautiful. AND you can even check out online illustration classes that she is offering while we are staying at home. 

Nest steps for IKIGAI:

Complete illustrations in the next couple of weeks. Then, Publishizer will share the manuscript and illustrations to amazing publishers in April. We hope to have a contract in May. Once that happens I will let you know the publishing schedule. 

I would love to connect with any of you who are subscribing. Feel free to ask questions or just say hi!

Aloha, 

Chiemi Souen