I recently was traveling and had the chance to pass the time by listening to a podcast. I’m not sure I was really in the mood for it, but as with most things in life, things happen just when you need them to.
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This one was about life purpose.
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The two presenters talked about how we often define ourselves by our career, and not what makes us happy. That seems crazy. When I am out on the weekends, I don’t care about whether my friends are accountants, teachers or students. I care about what makes them happy. So I started thinking, how would I define myself if I had to use this criteria.
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(My team at Cancer Council Queensland before I left)
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Traveler and writer.
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I haven’t had much published and am certainly not getting paid for anything I write. Does that still make me a writer? If I feel that is what makes me happy, shouldn’t I identify with that?
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Joining the dots
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The presenters then talked about how things happen in your life that often seem totally unrelated to each other, and it is only when you look back, that you can see how these dots join up.
When I was 8, my family traveled Australia for a year. Was this the start of my love of travel? When it crept up and got lodged under my skin and stayed there?
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(Our family when we reached the most northern point of Australia)
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I was thinking about this the other day when I realised something else.
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I used to write a travel journal.
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Honestly! I was old school. I had a school exercise book and pen, and every day mum and dad would sit me down and make me write down all about my day. Sometimes I hated it, and sometimes I loved it (I am not a fan of being told what to do!). But I did it. And now I plan to hunt it down and read over it.
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Did my dots start when I was 8?
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Even though it is not currently my profession, can I call myself a writer? If it occupies more of my headspace than most things, isn’t that enough? Sure, being a professional fundraiser pays the bills, but writing is what brings me joy.
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(Blogging in Barcelona)
And shouldn’t we all follow the bubbles of joy?
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Join the dots people!
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Oh how I love this! It reminds me of the Steve Jobs commencement speech I watched not too long ago – it totally reminded me of you! x
Thanks Biz! I am going to look that speech up now 🙂