Purpose

Purpose has been on my mind lately. What is my purpose? Do I have one? Does everyone have one?

For the last decade, as a trainer, I woke up every morning knowing exactly what my purpose was: to help others be as physically fit as possible. Everything I did in life revolved around my identity as a trainer and my purpose to help others.

And then everything changed. Dramatically. Divorce is a motherfucker and because my marriage was so intricately connected with my purpose as a trainer, when the marriage dissolved, so too did our business owning a gym together.

While training people brought me joy for so long, the truth is, I have no desire to return to that lifestyle. It’s too close to the marriage that didn’t work. For right now, training has become something more personal — something I do just for me.

I moved to Texas. After having lived in Chicago for 20 years, for a while I felt like a stranger everywhere I went. With such dynamic change, I lost my sense of purpose. For many people, one’s purpose may not necessarily be a job. It might be to be a father, or husband or some other familial role. I don’t have kids. No wife. I try to be a good role model for my nieces and nephews, but I don’t see them enough to have that be my purpose.

Luckily, I believe having a purpose only takes declaring as much. I’ve made art my full time gig. I spend a lot of my time making pictures. For myself. For others. Art is a way for me to communicate to the world. It’s a way to give back.

Perhaps I’ve been making art since I was a kid for a reason. Maybe it’s been my purpose all along and I just had to lose everything else to realize it. In any case, I get up every morning now knowing that’s what I’m supposed to do.

Do you have a purpose? Tell me in the comments!