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Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

#171

Post by uvtc »

velomash wrote: post #150

I mean, I'm not even sure if it's legal to own aquatic marine mammals of that size, but I can see how that relationship would be meaningful. I'd probably start with some marine biology classes. Then maybe you could find an internship or job at a large aquarium. After that you'd need to forge relationships with handlers and suppliers. Start reaching out and asking "hypothetical questions" about sourcing "for the aquar…

{slow clap}

Re: Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

#172

Post by devoutsalsa »

xwowsersx wrote: post #144
sbf501 wrote: post #115

Start one level up: why do you want or need a "purpose"? Purpose/calling is meaningless IMHO. I opted for "pushing my comfort zone". Something I learned from a woman I was dating when I was 20 (she was 9 years older and entering the Peace Corp). Now rapidly reaching the other side of 50, I seek to be content and without dissonance in my day-to-day life. I have routines I enjoy, no bucket list, and time to let my mind…

Shouldn't you be posing the same question to yourself though? Why do you want or need to push your comfort zone?

Boredom is real. You can always decide you’ve pushed enough and slow down. But if you get lazy and lounge around for too long, you may forget how to get off your ass and do something.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” - Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (played by Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption)

Re: Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

#173

Post by segamegazord »

manofmanysmiles wrote: post #103

I may be a little late to the party, but I'd like to offer a few thoughts. I write this as much to clarify my own thinking as to possibly help you. Preface: I feel at peace, and guided by inner purpose now. Experience has taught me that all is fleeting, so I am quite confident there will a time where I don't feel this way. Therefore, take all I am about to write with a grain of salt, even as it applies to my experien…

This post really resonated with me and I sense a lot of commond ground in your world-view, confirmed by reading some of your other posts on HN. Super off-topic but I'd love to chat to you about your ideas on "government is a superstition", feel free to email me at wiriwiy221@lidely.com if you're interested :)

Re: Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

#174

Post by teodorlu »

Start by asking yourself what you like! Then dig into that. Don't consume passively, consume actively. When you see something that makes you feel joy, explore why. Explore what part of the thing you saw made something light up in you.

If this makes sense to you, you can explore Visa's writing. I used to neglect taste and aesthetics. I get that you're asking for purpose. But those are related. In order to find your purpose, you must know what you value, and what you like. Visa has an angle on taste that works for me.

https://mobile.twitter.com/visakanv/status/13309873667150643...

Re: Ask HN: How do I find my “purpose”?

#176

Post by rdiddly »

The assigning of purpose to a human life is some unholy paradoxical combination of a vast flattering overestimation of its worth, on the one hand, and a blasphemous insulting affront against its dignity on the other. The purpose of life is life itself, that's why it's an insult to demand some other purpose. And by the same token, none of us has the kind of purpose your mind is demanding, that's why it's flattery. If you don't have a sense of purpose, don't worry about it, that's how it is for most people. Try a technique from acting improvisation: say an emphatic yes to the next thing that comes along. Lean into it. Does it lead somewhere good? Keep doing it! Does it lead somewhere bad? Change direction! Repeat. Construct the grand narrative later, as a retrospective.
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