Do We Have a Purpose in Life?
Hey its me!
Doing one of my many jobs.
Do we have a purpose in life?
Loaded question, I know. One I do not expect to answer. Not in this essay and maybe not ever. Perhaps, this notion is subjective. Some live out a life they knew they were born to live and others float along the river of life not quite sure they are fulfilling a purpose that was meant for them. Granted, it can be a lovely river full of docks that you can make pit stops on, but none that necessarily inspire you to leave your raft. There is also the more likely scenario that both people exist. I think that may be what occurs. Some are certain that they were meant to be a doctor, parent, teacher, mechanic, caretaker. These are the people who say “I just knew I had a calling” or “I was put on this earth to be…” fill in the blank here.
What is evident to me is all of these “callings” and “meant to be” are related to our occupation. Recently, my insightful boyfriend Jacob and I were discussing this concept. Our identities are intrinsic to our jobs. One of the first questions we answer when greeting someone new is “what do you do?” and there is this expectation that you answer with your career choice and in doing so, people tend to align your answer with your purpose. While this isn’t a negative trait it seems to be steeped within a capitalist society (and if we go one more step patriarchal, but I digress). Now, I am not here to go into politics and economics and all that jazz because frankly we get enough of that nowadays and I am not as well versed in this subject matter to continue that side of this discussion.
What I truly want to explore is this concept of purpose for all of you out there who may feel like you don’t have one or you can’t find one. What if we redefined it? What if we took the pressure off this question? For me, I have had a variety of jobs that genuinely became a joke to myself and friends. People would ask, how many jobs do you have now? 15? It never reached 15 but, I think it did hit 5 jobs at one point. I say this because at certain times in my life I have been a student, a receptionist, an interviewer, a teacher, gallery manager, content creator, appointment setter, auction cataloger… believe me the list can go on. I am listing an abbreviated version of my resume to you because I don’t know what my purpose is, what I’m meant to do, or if I do have a calling. I have a feeling a lot of you out there feel the same way.
What if we not only redefined the concept of purpose but, we let it become plural. As human beings, as spirits that live in this world, our minds, emotions, and souls will always be so much more than what we do. However, if you are feeling uncertain about floating down the river I spoke of earlier how about we let our purpose expand beyond singularity. I have always been drawn to creating, but to call myself, artist, writer, poet, creator, to name just one does not encompass what I do and what I am hoping to do in my life. Let us begin to explore what it means to push past the capitalistic tendency to only define our purpose by how we create an income to sustain a life. Our purpose can and should be much more. The list of jobs I rattled off before is how I defined myself at any given time. There were moments where I answered with pride. There were also moments I hoped with all my might that nobody would ask me that mediocre question “what do I do?.” I did not want to answer with the job I had at the time, even though I had also been creating and developing my business and artistry Embracing Obsession. If I answered with where I was between the hours of 9-5 it felt as though I was negating where I put all my passion, energy, and life force, but if I only answered what I did outside my 9-5 I felt as though I was lying.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Neither felt like the right answer and my sense of purpose seemed to be bogged down in the minutiae of it all. Is there a reason I couldn’t or shouldn’t answer with both? How often do we give people the chance to answer this question fully? “So, what do you do?” could be the opening to a complex conversation and a deeper understanding of the person you are hoping to know. Is there a better question to ask? What if we opened a conversation with “How do you spend your time?.” It is simple really, this switch of a few words but the ask allows for numerous answers. Now, one is free to discuss their job yes, but their passion projects, their family, their hobbies, or the ways in which they hope to spend their time and the slow process of creating the path there.
So, do we have a purpose in life? Personally, I think we all do, but I believe society stunts our ability to see everyone’s unique purpose. I think we limit the answer to this question and don’t give each other the space to fully flesh out the real answer to this question. Humans are complex, I believe for some of us our purpose is as well.
To sum up this little rant: ask better questions and don’t be afraid of the raft you’re floating on. Each one of the jobs I’ve had has led me here and has slowly brought me closer to my own purpose. What that is I’m not quite sure, but I believe it is hidden within all the words I write and all the paint I put on a canvas. So, in the time that it took me to write this, I stopped at the little dock labeled “Writer”, where should I stop next?
