Purpose as a Job or Role
The most obvious way that I found purpose shows up is through the idea of having our perfect job or career. Jobs are defined roles with specified tasks and responsibilities. From this perspective, we can expand the idea of job to any role, such as a parent raising healthy and responsible kids, or a grandparent that takes their role of spoiling them very seriously. Roles may be the designated driver, a mentor to a young colleague or a volunteer at the food pantry. We take on many roles that impact how we spend our time and energy, as well as defining what we find important.
From Deep Purpose Our Role Changes
When we are in deep Purpose, rather than focusing on our purpose as a role, job, or identity, we embrace a new definition. We know we are connected, at the same time we are unique, and we now choose to contribute to the whole in order to create something greater. We choose to be in conscious relationship. Using the jazz improv analogy, you no longer play for just yourself. You now claim your role in a bigger context, as part of the whole, with an intention to create music that is greater than the music you can play by yourself. This idea is different than simply serving the greater good, and it requires a new way of thinking about our role and how we contribute.
You Constantly Impact the Whole
Whether you are aware of it or not, you are constantly impacting the whole through your actions, nonactions, thoughts, and beliefs. As we saw in Expression, our very existence makes life different. Without you, life is less. When you are in deep Purpose, you are aware of this impact and are able to hold both your personal desires (Expression) and the greater good (Purpose) at the same time. Purpose is your unique contribution to life and evolution itself. It is the expression of your soul in the world. It is not a specific role, it is a way of being.
You Become an Agent of the Whole
When we are able to hold both our personal desires and the greater good, we now become an agent of the whole. An agent, by definition, represents and acts on behalf of another person or group. In this case, we consciously choose to acknowledge that our separateness is an illusion and that we are responsible for our impact in the world. We consciously choose to advocate for the whole. Not as a daunting and begrudging responsibility but rather as a joyful choice to be a conscious (Connection) player in the ensemble of life.
From deep Purpose, we cannot pursue personal desire (Expression) at the expense of the greater good. Nor can we be martyrs for a cause and sacrifice ourselves. Deep Purpose requires us to bring our full selves to the whole, as a full participant and full beneficiary. We are part of the whole that we serve and contribute to. We get to have what we most deeply desire and so does everyone else. We can no longer choose between a good life and a better world, because from deep Purpose, we know we can’t have one without the other.
The Whole Is Holonic
While Connection invites us to let go of boundaries and become more multidimensional in our experience of life, Purpose asks us to define our boundaries so we can now create something beyond just ourselves. Our family has its purpose, and we are agents of its well-being as a whole. Our tribes and communities call us again to name and contribute to the whole. And of course, there is the greater good of humanity, of life on the planet, of our cosmic place. In each of these, we are both unique agents and part of the whole that we are agents of. But beyond all the circles of influence we draw around us, each of these “wholes” are part of a greater whole. We have communities within communities, communities within neighborhoods, within cities and so on. Holonic describes when something is both a part and a whole within itself. Like nested Russian dolls, we are agents and part of every level, and every level is both contained and part of a greater system.
You Are Part of the Whole
A big caveat is that the whole includes you! Not only does it include you, it requires you to contribute from deep Expression, your uniqueness. For a great majority of my adult life, I saw myself as being in service to others and to life. I was a helper and someone that sacrificed for the greater good. As I shared earlier, I got to the point where I was burnt out, exhausted, and questioning the point of it all. I also realized that I was serving others, while holding myself separate from the oneness I was serving. I was standing outside this “oneness” as I tried to be useful. I also realized that I was being submissive in how I was serving. Making myself less than, and minimizing my needs in order to help others. From deep Purpose, you have to include yourself in the oneness you serve! You are an equal member of the ensemble, equal and unique. The music we create is not just for others, it is also for our joy, our pleasure, and is a by-product of our unique instrument.
How Is More Important Than What
Rather than searching for the perfect role that defines you, deep Purpose becomes an ongoing awareness of conscious choice and engagement. How you show up becomes more important than any single act.
I remember a conversation I had with a person who hated their job as a plumber. He had chosen that profession after pressure from his family. As we talked, I noticed that he kept referencing wanting a feeling of flow in his life, and that he wanted to make a difference. He wanted to be part of creating more ease in the world. I immediately thought of flowing water moving through pipes. When I pointed this out, he let out a noticeable “huh” and then began to talk about how satisfying it felt when he turned the water back on in a house and heard it moving through the pipes. When I spoke with him a few weeks later, he mentioned how he was finding new meaning in his work as a plumber, and even though he still was pursuing a career change, he no longer felt trapped or limited, and in fact he was finding more satisfying connections with his customers. He now felt that every day he was restoring flow to the world, in alignment with his purpose and desire.
Roles from Deep Purpose Are Fluid
When we understand that Expression is made up of many facets or perspectives that we can view life through, we can then see how our roles can also be fluid. I personally struggled with the common practice that if you are a teacher or a coach, you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure with your clients. How can we ever really be separate? I found that this approach often missed opportunities for human connection that opened up possibilities. It also created arbitrary lines that never felt right to me. As we become more conscious, it is possible to be more fluid in our roles, like taking off one hat and putting on another. It does require another level of communication, transparency, and clarity.
You Are Always at Choice
From deep Purpose, you recognize you are always at choice. Being a martyr, acting on automatic pilot because that is what you are supposed to do, or doing something out of obligation only causes suffering and resentment. No matter what the situation, you have a choice. You may not like the consequences, but when you can deeply choose, something shifts. You no longer feel trapped. You become a full participant aligning your desire with what is needed.
You Become a Synergy Seeker
Synergy, a business buzzword, is important nonetheless, because it describes what happens when we consciously engage deep Purpose. Synergy is the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, from Greek, meaning “working together.” We are constantly making choices with the idea that we can create synergy if we work together. Any marriage, business meeting, community, organization, has at its core the idea that there is an advantage to creating relationships and working together. As anyone who has been in a meeting or group trying to get something done knows, creating synergy is not a guaranteed outcome of coming together.
Why?
In deep Purpose, not only do our roles change, our understanding of order and meaning also change. Order and meaning are the key elements of consciously engaging our relationship with everything and creating synergy.