Purpose

 I've been thinking about purpose lately. Maybe fall nudges us to step back and take a wider view. What have we accomplished? What other things do we want to do? Even though here in Iowa it is still very hot, the taste of autumn is in the air. Hummingbirds seem to be sipping nectar with frenzy, stocking up for their long migration. Squirrels and chipmunks are hiding stores for the winter. Geese are passing through. The days are getting shorter, and evenings cooler. And so I look out my window and wonder about purpose. My own purpose, for instance.

For humans in the 21st Century, purpose can feel very complex. Depending upon your age, it might have to do with succeeding in your business, getting high marks in school, finding a partner, raising a family. Or all of these things. Our purpose gets fractured, with conflicting needs and aspirations. And then there's the question about whether you're succeeding in your purpose. How do you know what is enough? In this competitive culture, it might feel that you've never achieved enough, for there are always others who have done "better". And there's always so much more you could do, if only you had the time and energy. Being human seems much more complicated than, for instance, being a plant. Or an animal.

Looking out my office window right now, I see butterflies and bees who seem to have an undivided purpose: feeding on flowers. And when they go home at night (IF they go home), they probably don't have to figure out what they'll do tomorrow. They are guided by an instinct that takes the worry out of living. They naturally know how to fly, to browse for food, to lay eggs. They float through the sunny days, being what they are born to be.

If I try to put myself into the body of a deer, I can imagine its life is a little more complicated. Deer are shy animals, and with good reason. There are things to be afraid of in the world, mostly people but also animals further up the food chain. So though they have an instinct to feed, they do it more carefully than the butterflies. When they have fawns, their role becomes even more complex. Mother deer nurture their young, protect them, teach them how to survive. But much of this is probably instinct, just like the butterflies.

When I think of the natural world as a whole, this earth spinning around and all manner of living things making their homes here, I can get a sense that the earth is one living sphere, one being. Everything working together: bugs and bees, animals and birds, plants, microbes, water, sun, wind. It is a functioning whole. And when I imagine what this earth-being looks like, feels like (not including the human component), it is like a beautiful colorful whirlwind. Its life support system is made up of checks and balances, storms and calm, diseases and recovery, a living system that rights itself over and over.

I suspect that ancient peoples viewed their world somewhat like this. And they saw themselves as a part of it. Not the center, not the most important, not the movers and shakers, not the controllers. Just a part of the whole. Humanity was never alone because it was hooked up to everything else, supported by everything else. We have come such a long way from that understanding now, and of course this separation we have created between ourselves and the rest of creation has caused the problems we are facing as a species. We see blatant evidence of this every day, and it can be discouraging. We hear people quite often talking about the possibility that the earth may ultimately be unsuitable for human life in a few decades or centuries. Our perception of our planet home has been changing.

But this takes me right back to the question of purpose. After all this pondering, am I clearer about my own purpose? And yes, I think I am. I don't really need some impressive list of accomplishments, things I've done, projects that have succeeded (thank goodness!). Right now, my greater purpose is to open myself to the world around me, sense the shifts and energies, notice how everything interconnects, and let myself be part of the whole. It is a safe place, tied to everything else. I am a tiny piece of a magnificent planet, and I can reach out with my mind and embrace that reality.