“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
Finding My Ikigai
—a reflection for the soul-led, the sensitive, and the seekers
There’s a Japanese concept I’ve come back to again and again over the years. It’s called Ikigai (ee-kee-guy), and it roughly translates to “a reason for being.”
It sits at the intersection of four questions:
What do you love?
What are you good at?
What does the world need?
What can you be paid for?
Your Ikigai lives where all four overlap. It’s not just a career—it’s a calling. A way of existing that feels true.
And for empaths, neurodivergent folks, and sensitive entrepreneurs like us? Finding our Ikigai isn’t a luxury. It’s a lifeline. Because we weren’t made for capitalism’s narrow definitions of success. We were made to bring medicine to the world that only we can give.
This is a little story about how I found mine. Or maybe more honestly—how I keep finding my Ikigai.
The Path Wasn’t Straight. It Was Sacred.
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d become an intuitive energy healer or an empath mentor. I grew up trying to survive in a world that told me my sensitivity was too much. Too emotional. Too intense. Too soft. Too… everything.
Sound familiar?
Like many empaths, I learned to contort myself to fit into a world that didn’t value what I naturally brought to the table—deep presence, intuitive knowing, and emotional attunement.
It took a long time (and a lot of healing) to realize that my sensitivity wasn’t a flaw. It was a superpower.
In 2013, I founded The Vital Spirit, a business built around guiding empaths and neurodivergent folks toward healing, clarity, and empowerment. Over the years, I’ve worked with clients across the U.S., UK, Europe, and Australia—most of them spiritual women and femme-identifying people who, like me, were trying to make sense of their sensitivity in a world that didn’t understand them.
And somewhere in the middle of all that… I started to realize I was living into my Ikigai.
Mapping My Ikigai
A few weeks ago, I sat down and mapped out my personal Ikigai. I created a values wheel that named the core truths at the heart of my work. This is what it looks like:
Finding My Ikigai Values Wheel
Here’s what came forward:
❤️ What I Love
Empaths + neurodivergent people
Healing, justice, authenticity
Depth, connection, evolution
✨ What I’m Good At
Energy healing
Seeing patterns, telling the truth with love
Naming what’s unspoken, guiding people to wholeness
🌍 What the World Needs
Trauma-informed spirituality
Brave spaces for sensitive souls
New systems rooted in compassion + equity
💸 What I Can Be Paid For
1:1 healing + mentorship
Spiritual business guidance
Classes + content that transform people’s relationship with themselves
Putting this together was like seeing the soul of my work reflected back to me. Not as a job description or an elevator pitch—but as a living, breathing truth.
🔥 The Practice of Living It
Here’s the thing about Ikigai—it’s not a destination. It’s a practice. There are days when I feel fully aligned, lit up from the inside, completely connected to my purpose.
And then there are days I want to delete my business, move to a cabin, and raise goats.
Living your Ikigai means listening. Adjusting. Letting yourself evolve. It means honoring your energy cycles, your nervous system, your desire to do good work without burning out.
It’s about trusting that your presence is valuable. That your way of doing things—even if it looks nothing like the mainstream—is enough. More than enough.
🧭 If You’re Still Searching for Yours...
First of all—there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not behind. You’re not lost. You’re on the exact path you need to be.
Here are a few reflection questions to help you begin exploring your own Ikigai:
What do I truly love doing—whether or not it “makes sense”?
What do people consistently come to me for?
What have I always just known how to do?
What breaks my heart… and how am I uniquely equipped to help?
You don’t need to monetize your whole life. But you do deserve to feel like your work reflects who you are.
If you want a gentle place to start, I made an Ikigai worksheet that you can print and fill out. Let it be a slow and sacred process.
💌 You Belong Here
To all my fellow empaths and soul-led creators—you were never meant to contort yourself into someone else’s definition of success. You were meant to transform the culture by being wholly, unapologetically you.
Your Ikigai isn’t out there somewhere, waiting to be found. It’s already alive in the way you love, the way you listen, the way you show up.
May this be the season you claim it.
With love and reverence,
Laura
