Nick: This is episode 11 of the Rolefulness Podcast. I'm back with Professor Daiki Kato, and we are going to discuss finding a unique role. So it's good to talk with you again, Daiki.
Daiki: Yeah, I think so too.
Possessing a unique role
Nick: So Daiki, in your rolefulness scale, one of your statements is I have a role that is only mine. Can you go into some detail on that statement?
Daiki: The statement of 'I have a role that is only mine' is a sense that you feel your role is special for someone else and it cannot be replaced by another person.
Nick: It sounds like it's a role that would have a lot of purpose attached to it--a sense of purpose, your one unique role in life. So when I was thinking about this statement, I don't know why, but it got me thinking about a 1990s Apple commercial. It's called 'Think Different', and it was very famous, very popular.
It was a on-minute ad featuring black and white footage of 17 iconic 20th century personalities, such as Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Richard Branson, John Lennon, Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Pablo Picasso.
It's a very captivating commercial, very short, but really captures your attention. And in the commercial, the actor Richard Dreyfus reads the following poem, as the black and white footage of these iconic personalities is played. Maybe some of our listeners might know this, but I will quote the poem now:
'Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.’
So that's a pretty powerful poem, pretty powerful commercial. I think the 'Think different' commercial serves as a fine example of rolefulness. So what do you think, Daiki? Would you agree with that?
Daiki: Yeah, I agree that this commercial is really impressive and very popular all over the world. It represents the concept of rolefulness, too.
Nick: Yeah, and I, I'll just touch on a few. But as a child, I think I was greatly influenced by Jim Henson's creation of the Muppets. It brought me great joy, and I think I looked forward to the Muppet show every week.
He had this incredible talent and innovation in puppetry, and he transformed the world with these characters; he created all these characters, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy. So he had quite an impact.
And I think what's interesting, he also created all these characters which gave roles to other people to voice and to manipulate the puppets. So that's amazing.
And then even Muhammad Ali, even as a child, I don't think I ever watched him box, but I remembered his catchphrase of 'Move like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' Of course we know him as a boxing legend.
But he was also a civil rights advocate, and he used his fame to speak out against racial inequality and the Vietnam War. So he refused to go to Vietnam, he was stripped of his title because he didn't go to Vietnam. But he still leaves a lasting impact on both sport and society.
So he didn't just have one unique role as a boxer; he had several unique roles as a civil rights advocate and a boxer, and speaking out against the Vietnam War. So he was quite roleful, amazingly roleful, I think. So I think we've established that these crazy ones or these misfits or rebels are roleful ones.
The roleful ones
So do you think we could describe them as roleful ones, Daiki?
Daiki: Yes, all these individuals had a role that was theirs, a role that was unique to them, and they are considered the best in their field or at their craft. They had a great impact on society in their fields such as science, politics, and sports. If one person has too strong roles, sometimes others fear them.
For that reason, they are called misfits and rebels. Fighting against the world alone is very stressful and they might feel loneliness, but their rolefulness brought them confidence and it would be a driving force and their motivation, and perhaps it saves them from loneliness.
Nick: That's interesting you say that because that reminded me of something that Mieko Kamiya wrote about that often people with a unique role, feel it's a responsibility given to them. And because it is unique, and something they feel they must do, they do feel lonely at times because they can't really relate or share their role fully with someone else.
But perhaps, as you mentioned, the rolefulness of the unique role gives them that satisfaction and that motivation. So yeah, it's interesting. I guess, if we want an ambitious, unique role, or we want to be the best, there is also perhaps a, not sure if this is the right expression, but we might have to give up other things in our life to achieve that role--time with our family.
Maybe even other roles, so there is a price to pay, but I guess it's worth paying for to achieve that role. But not all of us have to go around the world--changing the world, or doing something amazing to have a role that is unique to us. So anyone can have a role that's unique to them. Would you agree, Daiki? Yes,
Daiki: Yes, I think that everyone doesn't have to have a special role and be a superstar, like, Muhammad Ali or Einstein. Everyone has unique abilities and roles already. So we talked about it in the previous episodes. It might be a very small role, but it is necessary for your important people. The important thing is that we notice it and be satisfied with it. Even if they are a very small role.
Nick: I agree, and I think if we do have a role that is only ours, it obviously has an impact on our life and our sense of self. So you've done research on this, Daiki.
How our roles impact our sense of self
How does a role that we think is only ours impact our sense of self?
Daiki: Our research showed that recognizing the unique roles and being satisfied with them improved confidence and established identity. In this case, identity means the findings and insights of what kind of personality we have and how we relate with others and environment.
Nick: With this in mind, if someone is looking for a unique role, or our listeners are thinking, I'm not sure if I have a unique role, what advice do you have for our listeners for developing a role that can be theirs and unique to them?
Developing a unique role
Daiki: It is difficult to notice our unique roles only by ourselves. I advise you to talk with your familiar people. It is not a difficult thing, but a very easy way. The best way to find your unique role is just enjoy your conversation with your friends and families. You will notice that you are not replaceable for your friends and families.
Your personality, words, and behaviours are quite unique and every role is just for you and very important for you, for your friends, or family, and your important person.
Nick: It almost sounds like you're saying just be yourself or in a Japanese phrase, jibunrashi?
Daiki: Yes.
Nick: Who you naturally are. That's good to know, it's relatively easy, just be yourself, and that is your unique self, in a way, that's your unique role in various contexts in social context.
So let's end this episode talking about people who we think are either crazy or roleful one. So maybe a roleful one is a better way to describe them. So who is someone that you think is a roleful one, someone who inspires you, Daiki?
Daiki: It's a very difficult question for me. I'm thinking about who is my superhero, who is my roleful one. I don't know if we can call him 'crazy one,' but I respect Japanese Novelist Soseki Natsume. Soseki is popular in other countries. In Japan, he is a very famous novelist. Do you know Soseki?
Nick: I think if you know Japanese literature, you'd know his name, but I don't think he is that popular.
Daiki: Okay, so I'll introduce a little about him. He's a Japanese novelist and wrote many great novels. My favourite novel written by him is Kokoro. Kokoro means mind or spirit. So the title is very impressive for me. It includes the theme of friendship, love, and guilt. So I read it when I was a teenager, when I was a high school student, and it was really impressive.
Soseki had several roles as a novelist, English teacher, and a researcher. So he taught in a University, and he also writes a novel. So he has many roles in his real life. He has such many roles in his real life and stories written by him didn't fit in the pattern. So he wrote so many kinds of stories, novels.
Some stories are entertaining and others are tragedies. Every story is very impressive for me. Anyway, I love his novels and they inspire me every time. That's why Soseki Natsume is a roleful one, a person I respect. How about you, Nick? Who is a roleful one for you?
Nick: It's an interesting question, there could be many answers, but I guess recently, someone I would think of as roleful would be Mieko Kamiya. In her biography she is actually described as one of the most remarkable women of 20th century Japan. She was a professor, psychiatrist, researcher, linguist, translator, wife, mother, and also an author.
So that all speaks to me of someone being very roleful. Despite her success at that time, and also being a woman, you know, it would have been very uncommon for a woman to be a professor, psychiatrist, linguist, and translator. Despite her success, she desperately wanted to be an author.
And I think that was one role she was unable to fulfil until she was in her mid 40s. So she loved writing. She has obviously inspired me with her work related to ikigai, because the book she wrote was Ikigai-ni-tsuite, which would translate to 'Regarding Ikigai' or 'On Ikigai.' Writing this book was very important for her.
And she kept a diary. So I'd like to quote her diary to end this podcast, because it relates to her role of being an author. So I'll quote from her diary. This was when she obviously started to write her book Ikigai-ni-tsuite:
‘I must not die before writing on the topics listed in this notebook. Even to the detriment of all other works, I should not fail to write on these topics. For, only this is what is unique to me. Other people besides myself can engage in medical research and practice. Obviously, other people can also teach languages and do translation.
Other people can also replace me in the work of helping my husband and his research. Other people can also discharge the duties of a mother besides me. However, nobody else has a personality structure like mine, has had experiences like mine, and has felt the thoughts as I have. To give expression to them in writing can be done by nobody else but me.'
So very powerful. It sounds like her unique role was being an author, and it seemed very important to her.
Daiki: Yeah, that was very powerful. It really connected with the concept of rolefulness and ikigai. Very powerful word.
Nick: It's interesting. Obviously, the type of person she was seems she was unsatisfied, and that she really needed this rolefulness in being an author. Because she's very successful, and she has been quite honest. At times, she wanted to write a book and not do the duties of a mother. So that gives expression to this desire to express herself as an author. So it's very powerful. I find her very inspiring.
Daiki: Yeah, that's good.
Nick: Well, it's interesting, we both chose authors, and we're both writing a book together. So wonderful. Okay, Daiki, that's interesting. So maybe our audience can think about people they admire, who inspire them as roleful ones.
Daiki: Yeah.
Nick: Alright, Daiki, thank you so much for your time today.