“The two most important days in a person’s life are the day they are born and the day they find out why.” — Mark Twain
“A man without purpose distracts himself with pleasure.” – Sophocles
“I purposely ate this entire box of chocolate-chip cookies and now my pants don’t fit.” — Chris Williams
Purpose! What a concept!
I have always found the idea of having a purpose in life to be so fascinating.
The notion is that, lurking somewhere within our chemistry, there lies an answer to the question, “Why do I exist?”
It seems completely otherworldly to me. I have met very few people who have discovered their true purpose, but when I do, they are invariably amazing.
They are almost always driven, but happy to be driven and work really hard all the time and are deeply invested in what they do.
I mean, they’re kind of annoying really, but you gotta admire their gusto.
But what of communities? Can a community, like an individual, have purpose? Or a society? Or perhaps even all of humanity? And if so, what would that look like?
I’m sure most everyone can think of examples. Societies that build fantastical structures over generations and centuries at inconceivable cost and whose purpose, though not fully understood in the modern day, probably had to do with a collective sacrifice to a communal understanding of life.
Sort of like the Site C dam project but with a lot more incense and chanting.
I recently saw a notice for the 3rd Islandwide Renewable Energy Symposium that asked, “What do our islands look like 50 years from now?”
What an interesting thing to think about! Not just from a renewable energy perspective, culturally and societally, too. And why just 50 years? Why not 100 years or 500?
So I began to wonder if it would be possible to again have societies that pull together as one toward a greater cause.
If there are people who think our society still tends towards a greater good, I am not one of them. I feel the western world has become a world of individuals without any sense of “greater purpose.” Sadly, I feel humanity has been distracting itself with pleasures and not yet learned the reason for its existence.
Individual pleasures are fairly easy to identify. They involve quick reward and little long-term value. Like chocolate cake, fancy cars or Friday-night karaoke at the Axe and Anchor.
It’s fun in the moment, but not really headstone material.
Societal pleasures can be a little trickier to pin down. Personally, I think celebrity, obscene wealth, large-scale economies and globalization are societal pleasures. They all heavily idolize the power of the individual compared with others without celebrating the power of the individual in congruence with others.
If a society is to have purpose, wouldn’t it be better off being in collective harmony?
But there is also a reverse argument that’s probably just as valid — all these things that I have identified as societal pleasures could be considered elements of societal purpose.
Perhaps celebrity, obscene wealth, etc. are really just our modern pyramids? Ultimately, they are symbolic of a purpose much more grandiose than any one person.
Maybe one day I’ll write a column that describes a futuristic Haida Gwaii where all we do is build massive concrete scallop shells everywhere while singing Gordon Lightfoot songs.
But in the meantime, to anyone out there who is reading this, I hope you find your purpose in life cuz I hear it’s a real pleasure.
(I think mine might be eating cookies till my buttons pop.)