Discovering Hado

Today I discovered a new word. I love words. I love language. And I love it whenever I discover a word I have not come across before. Today, it was with great excitement, that I discovered the word: Hado.  Pronounced as you would shadow.

This special word turned up as I was preparing for a beautiful conversation this morning with Paige Tan, for her podcast, where we talk about the role language plays in our ability to burn bright.

In case you are already googling the word, I am not referring to the augmented reality esport game but the Japanese word for 'the energy of life'. I was surprised I had not come across this beautiful word before, as it is linked directly to the work of Dr Masaru Emoto, who wrote one of my favourite books, The Hidden Messages of Water. Perhaps I wasn't ready for its presence in my life before today. Perhaps it has always been there, patiently waiting for me to notice it. I am so very grateful that I have discovered Hado. I am equally excited to share its meaning with you.

Hado is made up of two Japanese characters: 'wave' and 'move'. Its official definition from Dr Emoto is:

'The intrinsic vibrational pattern at the atomic level in all matter.'

Hado describes the smallest unit of energy and Emoto believes its basis is the energy of human consciousness. When Emoto raised people's awareness of the term, through his research photographing water crystals and sharing the impact language has on these crystals alongside our individual and collective consciousness, Hado quickly became part of the Japanese vernacular. People began using Hado to describe the intrinsic energy of people and places. I read you would hear it in conversation as: 'This place has great Hado' or 'She has powerful Hado.'

I love this word. Describing the essence of someone or something through the word 'energy' doesn't, for me, completely capture the absoluteness of being. Whereas, Hado does. It is the 'intrinsic energy' the 'essential' or 'natural' energy. The basis of who we are, our very essence, our vibrational pattern in this moment, in this life.

Hado is the awe you feel in nature. It is the connection you feel to all living things when walking through a rainforest. It is the overwhelming sensations you feel of being a tiny part of an enormous and glorious universe when watching the sunset or catching sight of a shooting star. It is the wonder you feel in your heart, when you see the delicate and magical patterns of water crystals.

I paused under a tree in the soft daylight for a moment today to see if I could discover Hado within and around me. I felt Hado vibrating in the atoms that bounce around in my molecules, which make up the cells in my body. I felt Hado in the bird song, in the rustling of the gentle breeze in the leaves and the warm soft grass under my feet. I felt Hado all around me.

My invitation to you today, is to become aware of Hado. May you take a moment to sit outside and feel Hado within you and around you. May you gratefully discover Hado today. Not as a concept or a word, but as what it really is, the intrinsic vibrational pattern of all things.

I look forward to sharing soon the podcast interview Paige and I recorded today. Alongside some great conversation, there was some powerful Hado.