It was, they concluded, their ikigai, which they described as “the happiness of always being busy.” But not busy in our western, always on, working 24/7 sense of the word. Busyness, in ikigai, refers to the happiness of always being engaged and present in something—or with someone—you care about. It refers, in other words, to a particular kind of flow. The more you’re in flow, say García and Miralles, “the closer you will be to your ikigai.” The
