Purpose: Grand or Otherwise
Source: Mark Fletcher-Brown, Pexels.com
This is the second piece in my ongoing reflections about how we make meaning in our lives and of the world around us. Purpose is a big, lofty word present in so many parts of our lives. Bookshelves and the Internet abound with books and articles and stories of what purpose means, lists on ways to find your purpose, questions at job interviews and school applications and much, much more.
That is the thing that gets me and always has: does purpose have to be this lofty and grand and for all of us? Purpose is definitely on the Maslow’s hierarchy — hard to imagine it being top of mind, when one’s basic needs and security are not met, akin to the saying about “you can’t teach a hungry man religion".
I saw the purpose question come up in a leadership development program I participated in; in panel discussions and posts on LinkedIn; in career discussions; in my grad school essays. For so many of us, the question can evoke a feeling of disappointment in oneself. It becomes yet another societal reminder that you are not enough as is; there is more that you can and should be doing. I’d like to hit the unsubscribe button on this messaging, primarily because it takes away from being able to live in the present moment and we don’t need yet another mechanism for that. doomscrolling and mindless media consumption already do a great job there.
One of my personal struggles is to lessen the din of the “should” voice, and finding your grand purpose definitely falls in the should category for me. In the last year or so, I’ve come to realize, purpose, if I needed to define it for me, at an individual level is to be healthy, safe, happy and to be kind and do no harm. If it sounds basic, it is. If it sounds easy, it is not. Beyond myself, I see purpose as being of use or service locally. I cannot imagine ever being a person who can change the world — and the megalomaniacal billionaires who claim to be able to “change the world” are in fact making it more dysfunctional. I, however, can see myself as someone who can help if called upon and seek ways to do so. I want this to be enough, so that life in this moment can feel enough.