Life purpose. What is my life’s purpose? Ah, the question that deludes us all.

I’ve always been curious, anxious, and eager to uncover life’s purpose – MY life’s purpose. Even as a child, I itched to do something to get my hands dirty. I wanted to make a difference. I went through a severe burnout last year, which led to me quitting my job (and having to find another one, harsh reality!). Then I hit upon the idea that I am living my life’s purpose simply by existing. Drawing and storytelling is part of my life: just like brushing my teeth is. It’s not a separate goal that I seek to chase. It’s not something I fear losing. Being who I am means that I will never stop creating in some form: by playing music, writing stories, drawing comics. By being who I am, I am fulfilling my life’s purpose.

Everything we do is motivated by some kind of external validation. But wouldn’t it be amazing if we lived our life’s purpose every day by embedding it into our core being? Imagine living life without the constant stress of having to find a purpose… because whatever you’re doing right now is your purpose. It could be working in a 9-5 job, having a side-hustle, working with a charity, quitting a job and experimenting with different things, or just being mostly harmless. “My life’s purpose is to be mostly harmless.” Surely that’s not a bad thing! 

I was always searching, seeking, desperate to find something to throw myself into. I wanted an all-consuming purpose, a mission. But now I know that I’m doing exactly what I was meant to be doing. By living my life’s purpose, I defeat feelings of inadequacy. I fight the fear of loss, because I have something that can’t be taken away from me. It’s an incredibly empowering realization.

And we all know that at the end of it all life is pretty much meaningless anyway. We have unlimited freedom to create our own meaning and create the life we want. Finding a life purpose can be as simple or as complicated as we define it to be.