You Don’t Need a Purpose to Feel Alive
(though most likely you do need some form of income)
When last we saw Ruby she was loving her life. Time freedom is a wonderful thing. But given her approach, is it sustainable? How long can a girl run on her lust for life before things start to get real? She’s on the verge of finding out………..
Here it comes…. Reality is about to hit…..
Reality can be so cruel. Mix in a little hindesight, a little 20-20, a little regret, a little beat-up job, and reality can turn into a total bitch.
It's a good thing Ruby has the ear of someone who knows her, loves her, and is there to hear all about it…….
Yes, what should have been clear quite a while ago is hitting her like a ton of bricks. Specifically how very useful a job is if you like to do things like eat and keep a roof over your head.
This is a tough pill to swallow……
What Ruby is having a hard time wrapping her mind around is that it was the very best things about herself that took her down…..
Whatever George says next, it’s not going to matter. She’s dealing with fundamental questions about existence — which is completely out of George’s wheelhouse, try though he might to offer his bird’s eye view of things…..
Asking existential questions can be such a downer.
How about you?
Have you ever asked yourself things like:
What is the purpose of life?
Why am I here?
What matters?
Does anything really matter?
Or is life just meaningless repetition?
Yeah, me too.
And sometimes asking such questions feels fine. Kind of interesting and even mind opening. But other times… it feels like I can’t stand not having a good answer.
Which is why I take comfort in the way Joseph Campbell looks at this……
"People say that what we're all seeking is a MEANING for life.
I don't think that's what we're really seeking.
I think that what we're seeking is an EXPERIENCE of being alive."
- Joseph Campbell
That’s good, right? Because really, we don’t want an intellectual answer to these questions. No. We just want to get to the feeling of genuine, vibrant existence.
Engaging with life fully (no matter what we’re doing) and experiencing its richness (no matter what it is) is what I think we’re after when it comes right down to it.
So, actually — even though it doesn’t feel like it — Ruby’s doing great. She’s engaged in life alright. Does she need to tweak her approach to how better to do it? Sure. That’s always going to be the case. That’s what it is to evolve and grow (ah, meaning??)
Let’s tap
We’ll tap IN Joseph Campbell’s understanding of things….
“We’re not seeking the meaning of life… but the rapture of being alive.”
First we want to honor how we have been going about things, and then we can tap OUT the tendency to engage in too much mental searching so we can tap IN going in the direction of embodied presence.
Tapping Script: From ‘Meaning’ to ‘Experiencing’
Starting on the Karate Chop Point (side of hand) with a really good Setup Statement…
Even though I’ve spent time trying to “figure it all out”
the purpose, the plan, the meaning of life
I honor my seeking AND I open to something deeper.Even though I’ve been chasing answers
as though answers are where it’s at,
I give myself permission to feel…
instead of figure it all out.Tapping through the points, starting with the inside of the eyebrow and moving to the next point with each new phrase…
What does it all mean?
Why am I here?
What’s my purpose?
I’ve been searching for answers
Thinking. Asking. Reading.
Trying to make sense of it all.
Like I need to “solve” life in order to live it.
But what if the answers aren’t in my head?
What if they’re in my being?Stop tapping, hold your wrist, give it a squeeze on the inhale. Exhale.
Let go of the wrist. Notice what’s there now.
Begin tapping again….
Letting go of the pressure to figure it all out.
Releasing the belief
that I need a “perfectly understood purpose”
to feel at peace.
Letting go of the need to have it all mapped out.
Maybe ‘aliveness’ can’t be planned.
Maybe it’s something to be felt.
I release the grip of overthinking.
Softening the search…
And opening to the sensations of life itself.Stop tapping, hold your wrist, give it a squeeze on the inhale. Exhale.
Let go of the wrist. Notice what’s there now.
Begin tapping again….
What if I stopped asking what life means…
And started asking what lights me up?
What if I followed the threads of joy?
Of curiosity. Of connection.
What if what lights me up is my compass?
Maybe it’s okay to not know everything about my life.
Maybe feeling alive is the meaning I’m after.
And maybe that’s more than enough.Stop tapping, hold your wrist, give it a squeeze on the inhale. Exhale.
Let go of the wrist. Notice what’s there now.
Begin tapping again….
I choose to live from the inside out.
To follow what feels real and rich and alive.
I don’t have to know everything
to love this moment I am in.
I can pause and feel the breath in my body.
I can pause and enjoy
The light on a leaf
The sound of laughter
I am here. I am alive.
That’s more than enough meaning,
it’s a miracle.
And I choose to live it.Stop tapping, hold your wrist, give it a squeeze on the inhale. Exhale.
Let go of the wrist. Notice what’s present now—what you feel, what thoughts are arising.
Take a moment to write down what’s coming to you.
Thank you for tapping along! Join us next time where George is going to be able to say just the right thing to get Ruby out of her funk.
