Western cultures believe we must be alive for a purpose. to work, to make money. Some indigenous cultures believe we’re alive just as nature is alive: to be here, to be beautiful & strange. We don’t need to achieve anything to be valid in our humanness.
– lanie@melatoninlau on Twitter
Yes, the idea of purpose seems very ingrained in western culture. We need to have a purpose, and we find a sense of purpose through work, raising a family, being productive, working on ourselves, evolving spirituality, making ourselves good enough for a better afterlife, and so on.
The reality is that any sense of purpose comes from our own ideas about it. It’s not inherent in life. And we don’t need it to have a sense of inherent value.
I suspect that this need for a sense of purpose comes from disconnection. The more disconnected we are from ourselves and the wider world, the more we experience a sense of lack, and the more we wish to fill it – including through a sense of purpose.
The more connected we are – with our inner and outer world – the more we are just living our life. We notice we are life living this life. The need for purpose falls away.
DRAFT FRAGMENTS
What’s the purpose of life? If anything, it’s what’s here now. This – whatever is happening now – is the purpose of life. The whole history of the universe, and all of existence, has led to what’s happening here and now.
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I suspect that this need for a sense of purpose comes from disconnection. The more disconnected we are from ourselves and the wider world, the more we experience a sense of lack, and the more we wish to fill it – through work, relationships, entertainment, food, alcohol, and so on. Trying to find a sense of purpose is just one more thing we use to fill that sense of lack.