Author’s corner. On purpose, transformation, our existence and what does a life of meaning look like?
Let’s touch base
So I thought of dedicating this space to a tribute to the old-school blog style of writing. No AI. No Chat GPT. No formal punctuation. But rather a space for conversation. To share some thoughts, theories, and stories on a personal level. To connect as humans rather than ideas of humans… and mostly to also develop my creative expression through writing.
So if you have landed here… welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
A quick (in)formal introduction. My name is Bianca. I write most of the research-based articles on MeditationDNA. I am deeply fascinated by humans. Our minds, our bodies, our behaviours and how we all show up in this thing we call life. I am a yoga instructor, performing artist, and holistic personal trainer. Well, that is what I spend most of my time doing but not necessarily who I am.
I love writing – which is probably evident by now – as well as learning. From others, the world, and from myself. My curious mind never gives me a moment of rest to stop learning. So this is me reaching out and sharing my experiences and thoughts in hopes that it resonates with someone, anyone, as it speaks to their experience too. Truly isn’t this what life is all about anyway? To share our human experiences and grow alongside one another?
So if you enjoy the rumination of a random stranger’s mind sprinkled with a little sense of humour (because laughing at ourselves and life is important) then you’ve come to the right place.
So what has been on my mind lately?
Great question.
Too much.
Everything.
Everywhere.
All at once.
(Side note: Great movie by the way).
I’ve been thinking a lot about identity lately. The great “Who am I” question which I am sure anybody that exists can relate to. Ah yes, the ever-present existential crisis. Extending a little further than this I’ve been thinking a lot about meaning, intention, and purpose and how this all relates to us. Me. You. Humans. Spirituality. The world in general.
I’ve been questioning what it means to have intention and purpose. Why does it matter? Why do we need it? What is the point of it? Does anything in actuality have a point? Not to sound too Nihilistic but why are we actually here and what is this thing we call life really about? What is the greater purpose of our existence?
I’m sure you can already see where this monkey mind is going right…
So in the light of sharing personal stories let me give context. I’ve been through my fair share of identity crises. Of shedding layers and certain labels. I think most artists can relate to this as our work is so intertwined in our identity. By questioning our work we often question our being and vice versa. However, this is very much a human thing too. We are all multi-dimensional beings that are ever-evolving if we accept and allow this change to transform us.
But… this time around. This time of shedding my skin has felt slightly different. Less of a crisis but more of a curious exploration. This time around it feels as if all aspects of my life are coming to a neutral blank slate. Everything I have previously attached myself to regarding who I am has faded into the background slightly. It’s still there. It doesn’t feel like a complete shed but it feels as if someone has turned the dimmer down and in the slight darkness the questions are bringing other aspects to light. Like a treasure hunt but I am not quite sure what the treasure is.
The reinvention of self. Cycles of transformation. Embracing change. Trusting the process. Detaching. These are terms we are all familiar with. Trendy terms within the spiritual and mindfulness community at that. A picture often painted as “necessary”. Change is necessary and unavoidable. Yes. Yes it is. But… is it sometimes necessary to avoid change?
To sit in the cycle and phase you find yourself in a little while longer. To reflect a little deeper where you are at and instead of completely detaching and allowing all the newness to engulf you maybe to hold space for both. Bringing in the new without necessarily pouring out the old.
Let me be clear if there are certain things that you really need to let go of but you are holding onto them out of fear. That’s not the same. Let that shit go. I am talking about those things that you actually really like about yourself but they’ve grown a little stale.
Can I let you in on a little secret? (Me speaking to me). You’re multi-dimensional, baby. You can be as contradicting as ever. The world exists within polarity and duality and guess what so can you. In fact, I think we should.
Embracing every part of ourselves no matter how much it doesn’t make sense. Hey, guess what when it doesn’t make sense that’s when you know it’s right. That’s when you know this human experience is working for you because that’s where our curiosity and sense of exploration, learning, and development get challenged. That’s how we push the boundaries of the boxes we have put ourselves in. That’s how we extend our comfort zones and in actuality become more relatable to others because we can share more common ground with each other.
Labels and identity and categories and everything else that goes with that is such a strange concept.
On the one hand, it is necessary to make sense of things.
This is in our human nature. It can be necessary to attach ourselves to these things because it brings a sense of belonging, community, and understanding. It creates a safe space for the self. To feel we are part of something. To think of ourselves as something specific. To feel seen. To bring meaning to ourselves. Intention even.
On the other hand, labels, identity, and categories are really just another way to conventionally fit into society. These boxes we have created for ourselves. Placing ourselves in certain comfort zones in order to make others around us feel more comfortable – even if it means discomfort for the self.
But let’s think about it this way if these boxes never existed. If society was completely fluid. What would that be like? Chaotic? Maybe. Kinder? Possibly. More easy-going? Perhaps. Meaningful and intentional? I am not so sure…
Transformation, change, and detaching wouldn’t really be something we strive for because there would be nothing to really break out of. There wouldn’t be a need to question ourselves. So then that asks the question… would we actually reach any sort of self-development or even development of humanity and society in general. Like I said polarity is important and necessary. Without the boxes, there wouldn’t be outliers. Without outliers, there wouldn’t be inventive thinkers or the want to do things differently. The comfort zones give meaning to the ‘outside of your comfort’ zones.
We have digressed a lot (you will soon come to realize this is a theme in the way I write) but it all ties into each other somehow (with everything being interconnected and all that).
So let’s get back to purpose…
An unconventional take.
What if your life’s purpose is none of your business?
What if your purpose is simply just being here?
What if there is no greater purpose or calling to your life but rather many smaller purposes that make up your experiences?
What if it is simply just choices made by us based on our curiosity that create a life of meaning?
What if the purpose lies in just connecting with each other? Feeling all the human feelings. We are all on our own paths. With our own stories. Our own agendas. Our own beliefs and ways of living and for some reason, we all think our personal reality is the only reality.
What if our life’s purpose lies in nothing else but these paths crossing over and learning from each other?
Fair warning – none of these blog entries will have any conclusion, like I said in the beginning, these are raw thoughts that I am trying to make sense of too.
The comedian Mae Martin has a brilliant stand-up joke about this. They describe all of us as having snow globes that we display on our proverbial shelves. Each snow globe represents an experience or achievement or accomplishment in our lives of some sort and really all we are doing in this world is showing each other our snow globes. “Look at me, look at what I have done. Look at what I have accomplished to create a meaningful life”. This concept to me is both sad and heart-warming at the same time. That all we ever seek is recognition from each other – validation and rewards for our accomplishments.
Within our world where accomplishing equates success, and success equates power, and power equates meaning it only makes sense that we all chase this need to produce and accomplish because if we look at everyone else around us it seems to give their lives meaning so why not mine?
So I’ll leave you with this… It is not our responsibility to accomplish. I’ll even go as far as to say it is not our responsibility to always search for this greater purpose because by searching for one singular thing you narrow your sight on all the other ‘micro-purposes’ in your life – it is our responsibility to follow our impulses and instincts which leads us to experience life as it is happening now and maybe just maybe through that we create a life of meaning.
All the love
B
