Answering the Call, Finding Purpose

Is there more to life than our day-to-day experience? A dive into calling and purpose through Jungian analysis and my own experience.

“There is more in a human life than our theories of it allow. Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular path.” - James Hillman, The Soul’s Code

It would seem disingenuous to begin this newsletter about purpose and calling without acknowledging that, not too long ago (in fact, only last August) I was sipping mushroom tea on the very same sofa I’m writing from now, with the intention of finally finding my purpose. I was in a strange in-between place, somewhat lost in between all the books and courses I was studying. And I really wanted an answer: was my purpose writing? Was it psychedelics? Was it owning my own McDonald’s franchise? All seemed appealing.

But the mushrooms didn’t deliver. Rather than diving into my own, personal unconscious, the experience took me to the deepest layer of non-dual awareness, where purpose seemed beyond the point. Dazed by the vision that I had incarnated one last time to find enlightenment, I forgot all about my question. And when I did ask, the answer felt like a joke: that I should just make it up. The way I made sense of this at the time was that perhaps there is no such thing as purpose, at least for me. That living consciously, aware of my choices, balancing heaven and earth, was enough.

However, the experiences I’ve had since then have made me reconsider. A series of books, lectures, and personal synchronistic nudges have led me to believe that there may be more to it than simply choosing a thing and rolling with it. So here I am, trying to distill all of that to you, in the hope that it serves your own search for purpose and meaning in this life (and that it breaks my writing dry spell).