Your Purpose
Coddiwomple (v.) - to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination. I like the image this word brings to my mind. I see myself, eyes set to the horizon, putting some effort into carrying myself along, but really having no idea where exactly I am going. Just somewhere away from where I don't want to be, but still believing that my wandering has a purpose. "No matter what happens, no matter how far you seem to be away from where you want to be, never stop believing that you will somehow make it. Have an unrelenting belief that things will work out, that the long road has a purpose, that the things that you desire may not happen today, but they will happen. Continue to persist and persevere." - Brad Gast.
People have written extensively about finding your purpose, discovering the reason you are here, and following your destiny. Having a purpose, we are told, gives direction and meaning to life. On good days, I believe that I have one, on bad days, I tend to agree with the following sentiment- "The human obsession with purpose is merely a distraction from the absurdity of existence." - unknown, probably a modern interpretation of ideas found in Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus. The distraction is needed to keep us getting out of bed every morning. Especially since, "The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things." - Rainer Maria Rilke. One's purpose is hard to define because it incorporates many things, such as our connections, the meaning we give our actions and thoughts, and the direction we choose to travel.
Connection- Those things that do keep us getting out of bed every morning are the things that we love. A person/people, an activity, a place, animals, a goal, a cause, revenge, all great motivators. I would caution that you are careful about adopting a goal that is not yours or a hateful cause, but if it gets you moving, I'm sure you'll learn something. Still, if you can choose love, that is best. "The world is violent and mercurial... it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love... love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love." Tennessee Williams.
Meaning- Finding a purpose seems to be easy for some. Geniuses, protégés, people with a talent so great that it would seem like a waste of life to follow any other path. Most of us are not those people, and even if we are passionate about something, we still may never be good enough by society's standards. That should not keep you from pursuing what you love, what makes you uniquely you. "There is... only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist... The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." - Martha Graham. Just don't count on anyone else to sing your praises. This is my favorite way to give myself a purpose: to live each day holding to my value of gratitude.
Direction- Jordan Peterson believes that the pathway to what's real is through the hardest things that you can do. It is enduring the pain, the embarrassment, the uncertainty, that makes you into a person of purpose. The hard path develops your value system and gives you direction, even if the destination is not entirely clear or, like for me, it continually is moving. "Without focus and direction, even a genius can't achieve anything." - unknown. Basing your self-worth on achievement and external validation is the way of the world, and we have all succumbed to its siren's call. It has a bad side effect of leaving you empty inside, though. Many stories have been told of people that we admire as a society who made a Herculean push to achieve a goal, only to fall into self-destruct mode after it was completed. I can only guess that they were duped into thinking that the external validation they received for being the best wasn't all they thought it would be. Pick a direction, but make sure it is what you want, and if you no longer like it, change direction again.
"Always remember to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose." - unknown. Whether you find your purpose in connection, meaning, or direction, I hope that it brings you joy.
Love and Hope,
Big Sky Baby