When the Universe lit*er*al*ly guides you to your ikigai...

Truth Serum Tell #18... and you get the hint. Finally.

Do you know what your reason for being is?

And are you sharing it with others?

I thought I was.

But apparently, I’m not.

And the Universe, that smirky bitch, is sprawled out all tired-like on her velvety chaise lounge huffing out, “Jesus. Fucking. Christ. FINALLY!”

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Welcome to Lit*er*al*ly, Ororo, a weekly blog by me, Ororo Munroe. You are reading Truth Serum Tells, posts about deeper life shit. No needles or toxic, mind-bending drugs were used to write these posts. Thanks for reading.

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If you’ve never heard of the word, ikigai¹ (pronounced ee-key-guy) is a Japanese word that basically means that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose; Iki meaning “alive” or “life” and gai meaning “benefit” or “worth.”

It is said that everyone has an ikigai—the intersection of passion, talent, and potential to benefit others. It’s only a matter of finding it.

A little HERstory

When I was in the 7th grade, the Writing Bug left a quarter-sized bite on my ass. It was an itch I scratched ‘til it bled and I lurved it. My overactive imagination was on FIYAH writing young adult (YA) fiction.

My goal, at the time, was to publish traditionally. I researched the publishers and realized that I needed an agent to get into The Big 5 publishers. So, I researched agents that read YA and who were taking on new clients.

I’d made a list and pitched to them.

I received rejection after rejection, but it was good because instead of the standard robot-rejection letter template, I was getting feedback. And it was consistent across the board: not enough action, but it’s got potential. One agent even said it read like an episode of Kim Possible.

I’ll take it.

Or not.

I delved a little deeper into the publishing side of things and, in the end, decided the traditional route wasn’t for me. I ended up independently publishing my two YA novels in the early 2000’s.

But I digress.

I discovered adult romance novels my freshman year of high school and never looked back. Nearly 40 years later, I’m still reading this genre. I thought I was going to write YA forevah-evah, but while writing book two in a planned YA trilogy, I kept having dreams about a female that wasn’t a teenager.

This female’s life was fully formed in my dreams [such is the way ideas for books came to me].

So, I set aside the YA trilogy and decided to dip my toe in the Sexy Pool of adult romance writing.

I wrote this character’s life down on paper.

I researched a certain aspect of her life (explosives ordinance specialist in the military).

I came up with a pseudo name to write under.

I’d created a website with the intention to post my stories on a weekly basis in the form of a serial² but was using it to write book reviews in the interim. (kicking myself now for not keeping it)

I came up with a name for a series.

I created a Pinterest account and threw a shit-ton of inspo pics on it.

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo one year and cranked out snippets of the first book.

And then… nothing.

To this day, I’m not sure why I didn’t move forward with writing that story. Or go back to writing YA.

I was still writing.

Just not writing novels.

Back to the Present

The concept of ikigai as a purpose in life with both personal and social dimensions is captured in a diagram of overlapping circles that covers:

• What you love

• What you are good at

• What the world needs

• What you can get paid for

Ikigai holds the central position - Adapted from positivepsychology.com’s Toolkit, 2020

Over the past several years, I thought my ikigai was:

• Creating a publishing company and publishing novels written by young adults

• Starting a nonprofit creative writing center for underserved youth

• Being an internet research specialist

• Being a case study writer

• Being a catalog copywriter

• Being a transcript proofreader

• Having a 10-minute workday email business

• And most recently, being a proofreader and copyeditor for female entrepreneurs and short story romance authors.

I know what you’re thinking, “Did you really shell out money to take all those courses?”

Yes, yes, I did. Although I had a moment of Buyer’s Remorse the minute I bought that 10-Minute Workday course and immediately requested a refund.

Utter. Craziness.

Needless to say, I was a victim of #AllThePrettyShinyThings

A couple of weeks ago, my niece’s boyfriend was telling me about a business he wanted to start, and he needed beta testers.

Long story short? He wants to help entrepreneurs find their reason for being (read: ikigai).

He tested out the process on himself. Through a series of questions he created, he discovered what he wanted to focus on.

My niece discovered that she likes creating experiences for others. Which makes sense, since she used to have an event planning business.

My older sister likes to organize things (read: declutter).

And I, apparently, like to write.

My reason for being

Keywords he used

The unfair advantages I have over others

I should be surprised by the outcome, but I’m not.

Writing has always been a part of my life—in one form or another—for a very long time:

• Diaries

• Journals

• Blogs

• Novels

But lately, I’ve been feeling some kind of way about my editing business. I stopped and started three times (the Universe trying to tell me something even then, but I wasn’t paying attention).

I changed the name—and the logo—4 times! (pretty sure the Universe was pissed at me by this point)

I revamped the site over a two-week period before the new year (2024).

I was always tweaking the pricing.

And I couldn’t really decide on the services I wanted to offer.

For the past nine months, I’ve felt unmotivated to market my business due to my current sitch as a co-caregiver. I’ve come to realize that even when I get my own place, and Sis and I trade off every week, I can’t work on my business here. There are too many distractions.

My life right now is not conducive to nurturing a service-based business

I was looking into offering digital products when Niece’s BF asked me about being a beta tester for his biz. He was thinking maybe I could offer some sort of hands-off therapeutic writing product and brainstorm some other ideas.

But the more I think about it, writing is therapy for ME.

I don’t want to take a class or workshop to become a certified writing therapist to other people.

I’m just going to write.

It’s not service based.

I can write when it’s not my week to stay with my parents and publish on the week when I am.

I know what you want to ask…

What about your business?

I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing: no marketing, no posting on social media, and intermittent blogging LOL. I’ve thought about putting up one of those 9-grid things on my IG account and calling it a day. And I’ll more than likely scrap the newsletter, too.

An indie romance publishing company has been throwing projects my way and I’m not mad about it. To date, they’ve been my only paying client (author-wise), and the work isn’t steady. The domain name is paid for two years, so I’ll keep it going until it runs out.

But I’m sure what you really want to know is…

What’s going to happen here?

I’m going to learn how to batch content, bitches, that’s what! LOL

It’s not like I don’t know what the upcoming questions are going to be for the L.O. posts, so I’ll batch and schedule monthly. And you’ll still get the occasional TST post like this one when the mood strikes. Otherwise…

I’m going back to writing fiction.

And I’m going to start when I get settled into my own place (end of June).

Ramona’s³ been MIA for years now, but I’m hoping she can peel herself away from some cabana boy and help a sistah out.

If short and steamy interracial instalove stories are your thing, I hope you’ll join and support me on this journey.

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1. For the record, I’d never heard of this word until I’d watched a documentary on Netflix called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. One of the locations mentioned in documentary is Okinawa, Japan.

2. In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential installments. When you serialize your work, you can monetize it (based on the specific platform you publish on) and, more importantly, you can build a new audience of fans.

3. As in Ramona Quimby. All grown up, but the curiosity is still there. Does anyone else name their Writing Muse? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? No? Just me, then? Alllllrightythen.