The year seems to be in full swing, already. Isn’t it?
And while we wade through the ordinariness of our daily lives, after all of the promises we have made and the things we hope to change and be better at, I hope we make room for the un- ordinary too.
In this specific time, you might either be raring to go at your goals. Or you might have half-forgotten them. Either way, we are caught in the specific uncertainty of how things will go.
Even for people whose goal is to not have a goal. [This is a real thing that happens ha-ha].
I think this uncertainty is a gift. It puts things in perspective; we see the possibilities ahead of us in sharp focus. See the resources available to us; time, energy, networks or health, and we know we can only do so much with what we have. It forces us to take stock, and do better at what we choose to do.
And if we zoom out of the sharp focus of the intermediate future; the year ahead of us, the few months ahead of us, we see that the full stretch of our lives have that shape too. We have limited time, energy and networks to make our existence really count. Deep, vibrant health doesn’t last forever.
Or as Lorde would put it
One day the blood won’t flow so… gladly.
One day we will all get still.
Somewhere in our minds, we are aware of this.
I think this knowledge is supposed to give a certain urgency to the way we live, a deeper appreciation for the small, bright moments in our lives. It is something that makes success and happiness taste sweeter on the tongue; it might not have happened, it might not last indefinitely, but at least in this moment, I sense this sweetness on my tongue.
The other side of this is that; it could inspire panic.
Knowing there is a limit to such important things, to the span of our lives might make us ask well; what does any of it mean?
Perhaps this answer would give certainty, give borders to our options. Limit our fears.
Yet it [this certainty] is never given to us.
We scrounge around trying different things, or the same thing over and over again and find no rhyme to this world very often. No answer that stand upright when knocked down by the evil or suffering in this world.
It seems everything is ordered by some mysterious pattern or rule that is known by only a few of us. Or sometimes, by no one at all. That naturally, inspires a pervading fear.
But I think we are given something that undercuts the trepidation we try to avoid through certainty. We are given the emptiness of the moment in front of us to choose what to do.
Well, What Is This Thing That We Do?
This particular limbo period between the Christmas, and the start of a New Year has always been an important time for me to reflect. To ask myself this simple, but thought-provoking question;
What do you see right now?
And that leads me to asking what I see in the future.
Because it is what we see that determines what we act on. How we act. If we choose to act. And our lives in the end, are a summary of the things we did, over and over again. That is the train, the process.
Yet it is never enough to act, to rush into something with blind determination.
That question of why we choose to do what we do is important. Just as important as what we choose to do.
The dictionary definition of Purpose is
The reason [why] a thing exists. Why it was created and what function it serves.
Purpose helps us ask that scary question of why our existence matters. We exist, should there not be a why to explain this state we are in?
This is why purpose is such a very heavy subject.
There have been many theories, many models to explain this. Some better than others. But I want to focus more on what people do when presented with the notion of purpose in their own lives.
It seems the world is divided into people who have a firm conviction on what their purpose is; a specific set of things to get done in their lifetimes.
Or one thing to do that brings ultimate meaning and completion to their lives.
Others, like me, think purpose is something that underlines the processes in our lives. It isn’t only about what we do. But how we live. Why we choose to keep going on.
One thing is undeniable about the human condition; none of us would deem it worthy to spend an entire lifetime if there we no meaning to it. Even if the meaning is as simple as loving those we love. Choosing to do what we care to do best.
Living because parts of living are beautiful.
That is of course, all well and nice. But how does it translate to the boring reality of having to choose a career, a place to live, friends, a partner. A life?
Why Do We Do…, Anything?
Like I said, what you see determines what you will act on.
I have been thinking about the surreal machination of the world we live in. The societies, the cultures and the people that come together to make the engine that is the human race. How we are woven dependently into one another.
As one person grows food, another transports it. Someone cooks it, a songwriter crafts something that gives the experience of a shared meal with friends deeper joy. Poets write about the sublime wonder of it all.
I think that in the end, whatever you choose to do. Do it with a certain joy.
I found this advice from an essay written by C.S Lewis. It was in answer to the question of what a Christian should do, what sort of work is appropriate for a person to do.
And he said a lot about it, but something struck me about what he said; that while a career should not be a coin toss – something you decide on with little thought, whatever a person chooses to do, either to be an engineer or a nanny, you must do it with the conviction that you are doing it for something bigger that yourself. You must do it with joy, and with all seriousness.
Because all work [that is not illegal ha-ha] is important.
I think this flows into how we live our lives too.
All of what we do, everyone, is important. And we must live our lives with joy, and with all seriousness.
And A Note;
Another thing I have found to be of use is Toni Morrison’s very short, very powerful essay on work. Try to give it a read.
To paraphrase, she put it this way;
- The work you do is not who you are
- The work you do is the work you do.
- You are who you are.
That is the summary of a very succinct essay.
And I found it to be helpful at a time when meeting up with demands from work and everything were beginning to crowd my idea of what I am all about. We often have a sensitive radar on not letting things like money or a relationship define who we are, and we forget about work. It sneaks up on us, beware. Your purpose is beyond what you can do. You are human, first.
The work you do is only the work to do.
There is more to being here, in this world, than work. As important as it is.
See the world this way, and hopefully do better. You are who you are. Without question. Without additives. Simple.
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