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Listened to an inspiring talk by Seth Godin and learned of a new term: Kamiwaza. It's a beautiful concept and a powerful mindset shift, so I decided I'd share with the fam.
In Seth Godin's book, "The Icarus Deception", Godin writes:
This resonates very strongly with me and supports some of the notions I already knew, defined as being in state, or simply being present. But to embrace your inner consciousness as godlike is a fascinating way to think about it. Kamiwaza doesn't mean all-powerful and perfect. If the gods were perfect, there would be no point to the myths we tell. We tell them precisely because the gods aren't perfect -- they are merely bold. The value of art is in your willingness to stare down the risk and to embrace the void of possible failure.
After listening to the Seth Godin talk, I looked online and found the below blog. Most of the text above comes from this blog - giving cred where it's due.
In Seth Godin's book, "The Icarus Deception", Godin writes:
Superman. Thor. Moses. Athena. George Gershwin. Thomas Edison -- they each represent part of what it is to be human; they are inside all of us. We know we are capable of this -- to be that strong or that cool or that generous. To persevere and connect and contribute the way our gods can -- that's why we invented them, why we revere them, and why they resonate with us. We have them inside, every day.
And yet we have no perfect word for expressing godlike abilities. We don't know how to talk about what it is to perform in a mythological way, to strip away the artifice and let the deity express itself.
And the Icarus Deception pushes us to avoid even thinking of it. it strikes deep into our psyche with a vivid warrning about the dangers of hubris.
Too late.
We've built a world where the only option is hubris, where the future belongs to anyone willing to act like the gods of our myths. Better coin a word for it.
The Japanese call it kamiwaza.
If the gods are us, then do we dare be as the gods are?
The Japanese term kamiwaza, like most great words for which we have no equivalent, is difficult to translate. The shortest version is "godlike."
So when we strip away self-doubt and artifice, when we embrace initiative and art, we are left with kamiwaza. The purity of doing it properly but without self-consciousness. The runner who competes with kamiwaza is running with purity, running properly, running as the gods would run.
How dare we? How dare we presume to ignore Daedalus, to fly close to the sun, to apparently forego humility in a quest for something unattainable?
How can we not dare?
Hubris makes us godlike, and being godlike makes us human.
This resonates very strongly with me and supports some of the notions I already knew, defined as being in state, or simply being present. But to embrace your inner consciousness as godlike is a fascinating way to think about it. Kamiwaza doesn't mean all-powerful and perfect. If the gods were perfect, there would be no point to the myths we tell. We tell them precisely because the gods aren't perfect -- they are merely bold. The value of art is in your willingness to stare down the risk and to embrace the void of possible failure.
After listening to the Seth Godin talk, I looked online and found the below blog. Most of the text above comes from this blog - giving cred where it's due.
Being totally into what we do makes us godlike: kamiwaza
I've finished Seth Godin's book, "The Icarus Deception," that I blogged about before in Here's something to be afraid of: fear. I didn't find it astoundingly inspiring or informative. However, it did reinforce some notions I already hold, and said...
hinessight.blogs.com
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