When was the last time you were shibumied?
“Shibumi” my dad said out of nowhere.
We were on a family trip to Costa Rica. It was our first family trip that my brother and I were allowed to bring S/Os so our family of four was growing to six.
We’re sitting outside on the patio at the resort drinking cocktails under ambient lights with the waves in the background, listening to live music and enjoying first night of vacay vibe with our growing fam.
Out of nowhere my dad goes “shibumi” and I could tell he was in bliss. I asked what that was? He said “that moment when everything is perfect and there nothing else in the world you need or want, but there’s no word that really describes it.” As a parent, it must have felt like an awesome point of arrival to be traveling with adult kids and their partners. I got it.
Feeling bliss
I know that feeling well. Travel always bring it out in me. So does theater. And tender moments with my kids.
It’s in those moments that we’re brought to our knees in gratitude that we actually get to experience a piece of heaven on earth. It’s the swell of joyful tears and the clog of awe in our throats. That’s shibumi.
The best thing about shibumi is that the more you experience it, the more there is to experience. Just like love (and anything really) the more you have, the more you get.
Schedule time for bliss
There’s ironic quality to shibumi. You have to proactively schedule time for it to show up. You have to actively put the elements into your life that create shibumi. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll achieve it, but its the only way it becomes a possibility.
Shibumi doesn’t happen in the grind. It happens in flow. It doesn’t happen in the hustle. It happens in the pause. It doesn’t happen in work. It happens in play.
It’s why play takes such a high priority in my life. Because it’s where shibumi shows up for me. And shibumi is the fountainhead of everything else in my life.
My book came out of shibumi. My work came out of shibumi. My kids came out of shibumi.
It’s that important.
Yes, “play” is cute and silly. But if you don’t put the good stuff in, it’s harder for the good stuff to show up.
When was the last time you were shibumied?
xo
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