A Reason for Bee-ing: My Ikigai
Working for “The Man”
Cleaning out a chicken coop in Colorado
What is the worst job you’ve ever had? I bet you I’ve had worse.
But even if you win that bet, we both lose, because we’ve both given our time and energy to someone who has not valued us, and has made money because of us. It wasn’t until I learned what Ikigai meant that I was able to envision a different life for myself.
I have worked for others for 20 years, and I have no savings to show for it. I’ve always worked too hard and gotten paid too little, because I thought that was just how life was. I watched my father struggle to run his own business from our basement as a paper products distributor in the 90s, while my mom worked a desk job at the local technical college. I vowed to never do either.
I wanted to be an actress so I could play different characters for every job in the world: lawyer, doctor, astronaut, tiger trainer… ya know, the usual. I didn’t understand why a person had to choose just one thing to be in life. I wanted to experience and be everything, and travel everywhere!
The Next Julia Roberts
The highlight of my acting career… Me, as Tigger. circa 2000
I pursued acting as much as a middle class girl in Wisconsin could throughout high school. I continued theater into college, but I started to understand that I most likely would not get paid well for what I was passionate about, that I most likely would not be the next Julia Roberts and that I would always have to supplement my love for acting with a job serving tables or something similar.
So, I jumped off stage and into the pit of public relations, journalism and advertising. I saw the possibility of a career with a consistent and healthy income working as a marketing mastermind. My eyes turned to dollar signs. Since pursuing my passion in acting was almost guaranteed to leave me as a waitress working community theater, I figured pursuing a high-paying vocation in advertising was the better option. That way, I could afford to work acting gigs for fun, and not be worried about paying my bills. (oh, the logic of a 20 year old)
After two semesters in PR, a liberal professor who spoke the truth about corporations and media brainwashing, plus a trip overseas to study abroad in Australia… I dropped everything and switched up my whole direction, again. I decided not to pursue what would make me money, or what I really loved to do. Now my calling became what the world needs.
In December of 2008, after cycling through three different majors, I finally graduated with a degree in Global Studies, focusing on peace and conflict resolution and environmental security. I was going to change the world, and no longer cared about making a dime in marketing or becoming a famous actress in Hollywood. The following ten years, I floated around the world teaching English, working in vineyards, restaurants, bars, farms, ranches… you name it, I’ve probably done it. The goal to change the world always came after the goal to afford rent and food.
And Then Came the Bees
Thankfully in 2013, when honeybees chose me to be their spokesperson, I knew I found my true reason for being. Working with bees would be how I could help change the world. Shortly after, I was introduced to the idea of Ikigai, a Japanese word that combines the four areas of life I had been pursuing separately, but had not yet understood how to pursue as a whole.
After much journaling, reflecting and refining of my goals, skills, and experiences, I started to envision the Honey Huntress.
I knew without a doubt that I need to travel the world working with honeybees on every corner of the planet. I knew I wanted to write and film my experiences to help educate others. I knew someday I wanted to create my own educational honeybee sanctuary and organic farm. I just didn’t know how I was going to ever afford everything I knew I was meant to do and be.
I continued to struggle, working low-paying/high-labor jobs, attempting to invest in my vision when I had spare change. I searched for ways to make money online and monetize my Honey Huntress website, but with no investment capitol, no online business experience, and very little extra time, I was at a loss for what could fill this final piece of the Ikigai puzzle.
And Then Came the Water
As natural as it felt to pursue working with honeybees in my life… there is nothing more elemental to life than water. Two years ago, I discovered a water that would fuel my Honey Huntress adventures from anywhere in the world! And now, my Ikigai puzzle is complete!
I saw the success of other entrepreneurs online, and I knew with the right tools and support I could have the same success. I thought in order to be a digital nomad that I had to be a website builder or graphic design artists, or make and sell some niche product through my online store. I thought wrong.
Iao Valley - Maui, Hawaii
After 5 years on Maui and drinking amazing clean spring water from Iao Valley, I have struggled immensely to secure good drinking water here on the mainland. When you start to learn about the water options that are available to you, you open a big can of worms. The reality of this planet’s water supply is alarming, not just for humans but for honeybees too. (more on this in a future blog…)
By finding a water machine that upholds the qualities I was looking for, as well as connects me to a community of global online entrepreneurs who provide support and training for selling the machine to others online, I knew I found my golden ticket for financially supporting my Honey Huntress adventures and for living a life of simple abundance from anywhere in the world.
What is Your Ikigai?
My Ikigai is a combination of my passion to travel, my mission to teach others about sustainable, healthy living, my profession to work with bees all over the planet, and my promise to myself to earn enough money to empower others to fulfill their dreams as well. This clarity of my life’s purpose created the Honey Huntress and inspired me to become a Kangen Water distributor. I could not feel more clear on my reason for being, or more confident in my abilities to succeed with the resources I have.
I work for the bees, fueled by the power of water and gratitude.
Often displayed as a Venn diagram, Ikigai represents the intersection of these four questions:
What do you Love? (Passion and Mission)
What are you Good At? (Passion and Profession)
What does the World Need? (Mission and Vocation)
How can you Earn Money? (Vocation and Profession)
I recommend taking some time to write these questions out and answer them again and again throughout your life. What helps me is to write them on a white board, because your Ikigai will always evolve, and the visualization of it helps to work towards it every day. Much of what I envisioned with the Honey Huntress when I started it 3 years ago I have yet to manifest, but I know if I keep working towards it little by little, I will succeed.
Send me a message and tell me about your Ikigai! If you have vision for your life, but are unsure how to support it financially, and you’ve always wanted to start your own online business, let me know! There is a way, and I am so grateful to be the one to share it with you!
I can’t wait do the abunDANCE together! Thank you for joining me on this adventure, let’s make it as sweet as possible. You Rise, I Rise, WE RISE!