If the internship on Hamilton Island was teaching me anything at all, it's that I wanted freedom. Freedom to live the life that I wanted to live.
As if my request had been received by the supreme, this idea of 'life purpose' landed on my lap. Life purpose is about building an impactful life upon the foundation of your own passions, skills, strengths, talents and dreams. I had never resonated with an idea more than this one, and mulled it over in thoughts as if it was pinot noir. Why of course, I already had a life purpose - it was playing the piano!
However one day as I was crashing through the jungle, something peculiar caught me off guard. As if by pure magic, my imagination flared, and an idea returned to my awareness. It was an idea from my distant past, and it was called 'The Prophecy of Pilkenhorn'. Suddenly, I became aware of a huge chapter of my childhood that I had seemingly forgotten.
When I was 10 years old, I dreamed of becoming a writer! And I hadn't even touched the piano yet.. Inspired by the wonders of my own imagination, I started spontaneously writing one particularly captivating story idea that came to mind - it was The Prophecy of Pilkenhorn. I produced roughly 20000 words, and if I recall correctly, I was just as much the reader as I was the writer. I was fascinated by my main character Jeremiah Pilkenhorn, and the world that he was tasked with saving. However, my imagination took the story and soared, alchemizing it from a little idea into a massive tale stretching over multiple novels. Suddenly, I knew too little about the context of Jeremiah's story, so I stopped writing. And eventually, it was forgotten.Until now. Eight years had passed, and it just reappeared like a rabbit coming out of a hat as I was exploring the tropics. It was so bizarre - how could my mind withhold such a potent childhood dream from awareness for so long? And what's more - how did it just miraculously reappear in my mind?
I was confident that I already knew my life purpose to be playing and composing music. But I quickly learned that my understanding of life purpose needed to be readjusted like a shirt that's on backwards. So I started to contemplate my childhood properly - really thinking about what I loved to do and who I really was. I started with my dream to be a writer - and it turned out to be a treasure trove. I unearthed so much insight into my unique character traits, passions, various inspirations, and early ambitions. It turns out I was quite a passionate writer. The Prophecy of Pilkenhorn was the elephant in the room - I couldn't simply dismiss this with the wave of a hand. Why did I write that story? What drove me to do it?
I took my perspective on life, and stretched it out like dough. I noticed even more things that were being slipped underneath the rug, like photography! I wanted to make videos, and I loved taking photos - was this also somehow part of my life purpose too? I asked the memories withholding this information, and to my disbelief, it absolutely was!Like the joker in a deck of cards, A Youtube channel popped up. It had 8000 subscribers and over 10 million views! WHAT THE HECK?!
Turns out when I was 12 years old, I loved making and uploading videos to Youtube. Some of them were even getting millions of views! I couldn't understand why; they were embarrassingly amateur. But hey, I didn't question my childhood self. I was intrigued at how on EARTH he was actually CREATING THINGS?!
For a laugh, here's one of the silly ones I did with my friend Alex. The irony in this video slaps me in the face... I had absolutely no idea that I would eventually come to fall in love with the piano and music in general. Thankfully, this wasn't one of the ones that got millions of views.
All of this was certainly a blast from the past, but now I was more even confused about my future. I was already braced and ready to play the best card in my hand - the king of diamonds. But now I was picking up the queen of spades, a joker, an ace, and the king of hearts. What the heck was I going to play now? What's worse is that I had lost my balance - I stopped practicing piano and became addicted to my imagination. My original investment had been usurped! I needed some kind of clarification.
So I gathered all of my findings, and attempted to transcend my current understanding of life purpose. I did this by contemplating the background of my writing, my music, and my film/photography interests, questioning the deeper more fundamental building blocks of their existence in my life. Here's a few examples of what I asked my inner Yoda:What were the intrinsic drivers behind these passions?
What was the essence of WHY I did these things?
What was the common thread that connected all of them together?
When I figured out my answer, it felt so obvious. I'm a storyteller!
My life now had context. I knew why I was practicing piano, why I was composing music, why I was taking photos, and why I was building fantasy stories in my mind. And what's more is that these things were no longer mere 'hobbies' or 'interests' - they were the keys to unlock the life I always dreamed of; the pillars of my legacy.
Life purpose adds meaning, context, and FLAVOUR to your life.
And our childhood is a pantry full of spices!
As children, we found ourselves in this natural state of abundance and exuberance. Frolicking the meadows, we were free spirited, adventurous, creative, and spontaneous - we were living the dream! When we became teenagers, it is like we were given a giant boulder to hold above our heads. And then we arrive gaping up at this monolithic mountain of adulthood, and our elders are expecting us to carry that boulder to the pinnacle.. Must we become Sisyphus? Or could we return to the meadows, find a way to grow wings, and fly to the top?
Comments
Post a Comment