Current
Date: 2024-05-02
My purpose is to use each moment as an opportunity to practice faith on the underlying goodness in the unity of life and nature, responding lovingly toward what each moment asks.
Old
My purpose is to live deliberately.
This entails the following:
Every day, I want to deepen my friendship with the geography of life—the universe, others, and myself—so that I may respond to what the present moment asks from me appropriately and by doing so live a happy and meaningful life.
”I want” — I choose to live and not give up on life. I accept life’s challenges and face them with grace.
”deepen my friendship with the geography of life” — I want to live a philosophical and contemplative life—to feel deeply curious and optimistic about it despite its inherent meaninglessness and chaotic nature.
”the universe, others, and myself” — This is the outward-looking part of my purpose inspired by jiyu shukyo. As I see the freedom of the self that I possess, I too recognize my interdependence with other beings.
”so that I may respond to what the present moment asks from me appropriately” — The purpose of philosophy and contemplation is to act better and appropriately.
”happy” — I want to achieve self-actualization. I want to savor life, feel that my days are longer, make the most out of every moment, and feel healthy and loved. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
"meaning” — I want to deepen my sense of existence, engage with deep truth, make the mundane sacred, and most importantly, be relevant to the lives of people I care deeply about.
A different way to express my purpose is “to self-actualize and transcend.” Happiness is closer to what self-actualization generates, while meaning is what transcendence is all about.
This purpose came from a line of thought I detailed in my quest. It was also inspired by an initial reading of The Inward Morning by Bugbee and Thoreau’s purpose written in Walden:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
To do
- This seems too long and complicated it has started to feel “meaningless” to read. Consider simplifying.