There’s a lot of pressure these days to “find your purpose.” It’s like if you’re not saving the planet, building a startup, or writing the next great novel, you’re not doing it right. But I’m starting to question whether purpose has to be so grand.

Maybe being a kind neighbor, raising good ****, or making beautiful things just because you love them is enough. Maybe purpose isn’t a mountaintop but a path — something you walk, not something you conquer.

I’d love to hear what “purpose” means to you. Has it changed over the years? Do you think we over-glorify it? Or is striving for a deeper purpose a necessary part of the human experience?

I think people get too wrapped up trying to find some grand purpose, we're not all gonna be the president or cure cancer. Realistically, my only real purpose in life is my family, and any goal or silly dream I have for life, pretty much directly feeds into being able to take care of them. Don't get me wrong, everyone should do stuff for themselves and not just their ****, but I think for most people, almost everyone's dream 'purpose' just involves making a living doing something they don't hate and might make a positive impact.

I think a mix of both. I think that everyone has a purpose and I believe everyone is here for a reason. I also believe in fate. So I do think that some people come and go into your life as lesson to be learned for now or later. I also believe that maybe humans use it as a reason for their existence. So I believe in both ideologies, but I would say I do think that everyone has a purpose more than the idea that it’s just made up for a reason for our existence.

19 hours ago, mary said:

I think a mix of both. I think that everyone has a purpose and I believe everyone is here for a reason. I also believe in fate. So I do think that some people come and go into your life as lesson to be learned for now or later. I also believe that maybe humans use it as a reason for their existence. So I believe in both ideologies, but I would say I do think that everyone has a purpose more than the idea that it’s just made up for a reason for our existence.

It's cool seeing how our beliefs shape our perspective on this one. I generally don't believe we're here for any reason beyond the biological imperative, and the idea of purpose to me has always been rather internal. I've never felt pulled toward a purpose greater than experiencing life. My purpose is what I want it to be, and for me it's to explore and love and romanticize my existence.

Maybe I've just been an outdoorsman (outdoorswoman?) too long but I almost hold more value in the ideal of "leave no trace" than in leaving an impact.

One of the curses of being a human is assuming you matter, or worse, wanting to matter.

We are so small in the universe.

15 hours ago, Onision said:

One of the curses of being a human is assuming you matter, or worse, wanting to matter.

We are so small in the universe.

I couldn't agree more.

We all like to think we can change the world. Reality is, only very few people grow to have that power. It's not impossible, but it's really only CEO's of global corporations, politicians, or leaders of NGO's that rise to that level of influence.

I'm happy if I leave this world having made a positive impact on the people around me, and left a positive legacy with my friends, family and work. I don't need a greater purpose than that. Sure I have goals in life, but I'm not kept up at night thinking about saving the world or achieving more than that.