A life of intention, of purpose
It occurs to me that perhaps there are those who don’t live a life of intention, mainly due to lack of purpose (Lord knows that was me right after college), and not so much due to excess clutter. This is a much bigger issue than clutter itself, as a person without a self defined purpose is looking for a purpose (even if they don’t know it), and will be easily swayed by the pressures of the society, the culture we live in.
Of course this is a culture that covets material possessions, and a “bigger” lifestyle, so it’s neigh inevitable that a person without a self defined purpose will turn to a life of excess, and get a false sense of purpose in that; A sense of emotional security. But I think we know that is just filler, or a place holder, where real fulfillment should be.
For those people, I wish I had an fool proof formula for finding their purpose; I really do.
However being a person of purpose and intention myself, and knowing many others with purpose/intention, I believe I can point them in the right direction:
- Serve Others – No matter what we are driven to do, we will only get long term fulfillment out of it, if it is in the service of others. This comes from an instinctual need as we grow older to contribute to the world.
- It feels good – The actual act of carrying out our purpose must be in some way pleasurable to us, not just the result. Otherwise it will just feel like work, and in time we will burn out; then our passion for it will fade.
- We have a way to put our own signature on it – A lot of people do what we are gonna do. How are we going to do it in such a way that we can make our own personal mark.
- We are motivated to do it – We must have the internal drive, the spark that keeps us moving forward.
- We can surround ourselves with people that fuel our fire. – No matter how much we are motivated, we all need support. Keep people around that believe in our passion, and give support. Also, eject from our life those who drag us down. Get rid of all negativity keeping us from moving forward.
All these criterion must be met in order for one to have a passion worthy enough to be their life’s purpose, their intention. After that, just look to where our talents and humanity meet. We will find our purpose somewhere in that intersection.
Looking a little deeper into Value
I have seen lots of different kinds of minimalists in the past couple of years. It seems to be a stereotype that minimalists are strait laced neat freaks with plain clothes and small apartments. Well …….. this IS one type of minimalist, but there are many others. Lets go back to the very definition of Minimalism.
Minimalism is creating a life of focus and intention, by discarding all the excess that adds little or no value to that life.
VALUE is the operative word here. Different people have different values according to their passions. One persons junk is another persons treasure.
I recall not too long ago running into an old friend who lives in a very small place with very few possessions, that just so happens to be a hard core video gamer. Not many other possessions, but lots of game consoles and games. My first thought (as a Minimalist of a different kind) was “What a waste of time. All this time playing games could be spent productively. This is a false reality that is stunting his growth as a person, and ultimately leading him nowhere. I.E. the few possessions he has and time he is spending is adding no value whatsoever.”
But then I watched him “in action”, In his element, and gave the matter more serious thought.
Much of the gaming is online in collaboration with other players. So there is very much a social element to this gaming. Not only that, but this collaborative effort is in the form of teamwork and competition. Video gaming very much exercises ones problem solving skills as well. So it seems that this can be very valuable to ones growth.
False reality?…….really? How do we define reality? Is it only real if it is God (or nature) made/planned? Well, then all the society constructs we have, such as finance and politics are false realities, and we are all idiots for taking part in them. So NO, that is not a good definition for “reality.”
Is it only real if is big, detailed, intelligent, and physical? Then finance still doesn’t exist, because it’s not physical. It’s just as digital as the video games. Take out “physical” from the definition and suddenly video gaming qualifies as a reality.
Is it only real if there are enough other people that follow/believe in it? ……… Ok I buy that. How much is “enough” though? I can tell you that as of 2015, 155 million Americans regularly play video games. Every year there are many gaming conventions all over the country that pack in literally thousands of gamer’s who collaborate in this subculture. Is that real enough for ya? People not only make a great living in the gaming community, but make money just reporting news on the community.
The truth is this: Only the individual can determine what adds value to their life. Perception is reality. As long as they are maintaining their health, creating/maintaining strong relationships, and are growing as a person (in whatever facet they choose), they are doing just fine.
There are a lot of subcultures out there (with their own sub-realities). Ones for video gaming, card gaming, board gaming, film, sci-fi, pottery, knitting, cycling, comics, and thousands more. I think we all should be a little more open minded about the value of what people choose to do with their time.