Is there an inherent meaning to life, an over-riding, capital P, Purpose?? If not, then our sense of meaning and purpose is constructed, fabricated, invented, chosen, cultivated, devoted to, selected and committed to… from a great pool of possibilities. Purpose may come to us as a revelation, may be revealed to us in glimpses, may become apparent in a flash of a moment or in an intuition.
Some discover a deep sense of purpose that is deeply resonant with their essential natures. That is my Purpose, to resonate with a deep sense of intention in my life, to be aligned with vision and committed to action that matters! Many form goals that are secondary tier, not ultimate, and that is good enough – they don’t expect to find ultimate purpose – and good lives are humbly lived in accordance to basic goals and values and ethical principles. Perhaps purpose is inherently small p, non-definitive, and distinct to each of us.
Here is my attempt to define Purpose:
To live fully, to experience, explore, discover and express my true nature and evolve a cohesive narrative, to live and explore life’s unfolding, to experience, receive and respond to the miracle that informs and surrounds us, to inquire and investigate, to enjoy and partake, to serve and be served to value and love and embrace and cry and dance and sing and laugh,… To cultivate character traits and embody principles and qualities such as courage and wisdom and kindness and strength,… with discipline and awakened attention. Purpose is Intention is Focus is Direction that guides actions in accordance with our leading-edge truths. Focusing with single-minded attention on multiple possibilities, gathering vision like flowers in the meadow, directing our dynamic life-force, realizing and living fully our soulpath, thru the contours, convexes and concaves of this world-crucible with clear intention, cultivating our intention, our sense of direction, with exquisite care. Our paths, filled with possibilities and potentials, push and pull us, portending inevitability. Our destination is the sum total of all of our experiences and choices.
As Rainer Marie Rilke says: “what we chose to fight is so tiny, what fights with us is so great!” Shaping and being shaped, honing and being honed, that is the dance. We intend and activate possibilities as life needs, kneads and feeds us. Quality matters. Heart matters. Presence matters. Bringing ourselves to each moment, each situation, each relationship – fully, wholly and completely – is what matters. Discernment matters.
Purpose is priority and order, the ability to recognize what matters in the moment and to act. Purpose is why we are here. Its constructed, derived, evolved; its contextual, versatile and variable. Its quest and path, ease and struggle, simple and infinitely complex. When we arrive, purpose is fulfilled, answered, completed; then, we can surrender intent and focus, draw water from the well, drink and be quenched, perhaps sated and nourished. In time, purpose will resurrect, be born again and take us on our path once again. Thus we renew. So I say, savor moments of arrival as well as moments of departure. Leave and come back, go and return and trust in return, in redemption, in resilience. In your life, teach others to intend and fulfill, to strive and surrender, to let go and trust in home-coming. Purpose is making meaning of our suffering and our lives and making meaning is fulfilling and redemptive.
What do you feel is your sense of purpose?
What motivates and drives you??
Pleas contribute your vision to this blog!!
Michael g
