This week I was able to speak with a brilliant friend and record a new podcast episode on the topic of finding purpose. As is always the goal in having conversations like this, my hope is not to be formulaic, or even reach any sort of definitive conclusions, but rather, I am interested in trying on new ideas, moving into territory that is unfamiliar. In short, I am always wanting to find ways to surprise myself.
This doesn’t always happen, but last night, as we talked, I recognized there is some deep Mormon conditioning embedded in my understanding of purpose that I want to challenge and attempt to re-write (in the first of what will be many iterations).
I’ll leave some of these writing prompts here so you can spend some time with them as well.
What did the word purpose mean to you in a Mormon context? How did having that purpose make you feel? How did it make you act? Are there parts of those ideas you want to keep? Are there parts you’d like to be done with?
Try re-writing the definition and re-claiming the word ‘purpose’ for yourself. Be as creative as you want.
Look at the world around you—trees, flowers, animals, children, clouds, artworks, etc…—what would you say their purposes are? What do you admire or love about the purpose of these things? How are you a part of these things? What do they teach you about your own purpose?
Writing Prompts: On Finding Purpose
I love these questions. What a gift you offer me in the pondering of them. Even though I left Mormonism when I was 20, I have struggled with having a sense of purpose off and on since then. Oddly, it’s grown more acute as I’ve hit middle age - or maybe that’s not odd at all.