Written February 25, 2013
I’ve spent a good part of the start of 2013 sorting out what I wanted to do with my business life. The intensity of last year’s house renovation had gradually settled into the normal hum of Home and I found myself in a lovely studio I had created refreshing myself on the writings and artwork that had been backburnered for these past months. Where to start? Writing or artwork? Website or Facebook? Holing up in my space or venturing out to make connections? I was out of practice and overwhelmed.
Thankfully I live with a man who does strategic planning for a living and who says things like, ‘Ellen, you can make lists and set goals all you want, but if you don’t take the time and define your core purpose – actually write it down – the rest is useless.’ He also said a whole bunch of other stuff about taglines and personal mantras and envisioned futures. I took every bit of advice and did every single thing he said which I don’t believe I’ve ever done in our 27 years of marriage, so this was a big deal in our house. He’s still walking around with his feathers puffed up a bit, but that’s OK. He deserves it.
So after a lot of sorting and writing, pondering and meditating, realizing and admitting, I came to the foundation of me, that is, my core purpose. My way of life. My mode operandi. The meat and potatoes of my inner self and why I’m here. That from which all else flows. You get the idea, right?
My bottom line, core purpose is this:
I know that we are all connected in so many intricate and amazing ways. All of us. And by ‘all of us’, I mean all people as well as every single snippet of life in the world. And by ‘the world’, I mean this planet we call Earth and everything known and unknown beyond it. I know that’s all pretty expansive, but I simply love this truth and I love that I spend an inordinate amount of time every single day feeling deeply about it, paying close attention so I can really SEE these amazing webs of connectedness.
My passion, my job as I now know it, is to do this 24/7 in order to sort it out as best I can and then share what I see so you can get a glimpse of this phenomenon too. And by ‘share’, I mean create a piece of art, write a blog, tweet an insight, post a status update, or actually have a real, in-person conversation about it.
Maybe, just maybe, what I share will move you to experience these connections in the similar, awe-struck way that I do. Maybe it will inspire you to not be afraid to love yourself and others more deeply. Maybe it will fill you with gratitude for whatever goodness or challenge is in front of you at this instant. Or maybe, more likely, it will affect you in ways none of us can predict, but all of us will marvel at and relish.
