Welcome Private Viewers - and a warm welcome to new subscribers. Thank you for subscribing, it means the world to me that you support my art writing.
The third newsletter of every month is an opinion or advice piece, which hopefully you’ll find interesting and/or useful. This week I write about Purpose. Remember, this is my Private View, you are welcome to share yours in the comments.
A regular occurrence in my household is Mr C declaring he’s “lost” something and me opening a cupboard to find the lost thing sitting right there where it should be. This happened just a few days ago when Mr C declared, in a voice that clearly indicated he thought I’d put it somewhere strange, that he couldn’t find the coffee pot, only for me to point out, “It’s right there, on the kitchen counter!”
However, recently Mr C has been on a quest to find his Purpose, and sadly I haven’t been able to locate it for him sitting in the back of a cupboard, but it has got me thinking about what purpose is and how I feel a sense of purpose through my art.
What is purpose anyway? What do we mean when we say we’re looking for a sense of purpose? There’s no one answer to that question. As usual, Mr C and I have opposing thoughts. I’m more in the Buddhist camp with some Druid beliefs thrown in, where I don’t believe there is a purpose beyond becoming a better version of myself so that I’m able to love and respect all life around me in the fullest way possible. And that personal growth is something I can achieve in a myriad of ways. Mr C is searching for his one big passion in life - apart from me ;) - and wants and needs to feel driven to achieve “something.”
I suspect our childhoods and the way we were parented influence how we view purpose. My parents were totally happy sitting in the garden doing nothing other than admiring the flowers they were cultivating, and I was raised that way, with very little pressure to go out into the world and achieve. Mr C had the polar opposite upbringing with parents focused on doing and not just being.
There is no right or wrong here, there are as many ways of being in this world as there are humans. Our religious and spiritual beliefs will have a strong influence: Many religions tie purpose to the worship of their God, ministry, and evangelism. Political, economic, and cultural affiliations will influence our thoughts on purpose. For example, the purpose of Capitalism is profit, and it benefits that system to have folks believe their purpose lies in work- hence so many books linking purpose with work or side hustles. But I wonder who really benefits from me finding my purpose in monetizing my hobby, my Instagram, my Substack?
In my experience, purpose or a sense of meaning is not something that sits waiting for you to find it, in fact, the more you search for purpose, the more elusive it becomes. I believe purpose is created: It’s an energy that grows, self-sustains, and something that is felt, not found. Purpose is not necessarily an all-encompassing, passionate affair (although it can be) but is often a gentle, comfortable creature that you suddenly notice has been sitting with you all along, like a fluffy, purring kitten.
For me, making art is the equivalent of my mom and dad sitting in the garden. I make art and I write because those activities help me figure stuff out, connect with the world around me, and become just a little bit more understanding of myself and others. And I enjoy both immensely of course. There’s no grand purpose behind either, I just sit and I create.
The outward purpose of my art (some might call this service) often reveals itself as I’m creating or afterward when I’ve had a chance to reflect. Take this substack for example. When I started, I had no clear purpose, I just knew I had something to say and I wanted to write. As I started writing, I noticed that I was writing specifically for other artist women and in a strong feminist voice. That hadn’t been a conscious choice, it was just the way my writing poured out of me; it was what I was feeling.
It was only this week that I realised purpose had seeped into my writing like concrete around bricks: The purpose of this substack is to celebrate, support, and advocate for artist women. There it is. That’s what I’ve been doing all along. There’s the fluffy kitten sitting next to me.
The purpose of this substack is to celebrate, support, and advocate for artist womxn.
Feeling a sense of purpose can be useful - knowing the purpose of this newsletter motivates me to continue writing and helps me stay focused on relevant topics - but it’s not a necessity. It’s okay for me to write just for the purpose of writing. It’s fine to make art for the purpose of arting (I made a new verb!)
Self-expression is Purpose.
Ultimately, our values, our purpose, our dreams are all personal to us. Nobody can offer them to us in a book or podcast. And they’re not physical things that stay the same forever and can be lost or found: they’re created, shaped, and altered as we desire - like a piece of clay. I don’t buy into the Capitalist myth that we all need a grand purpose to steer our lives, despite what the books say. Ask me about my big dream for my life and I’d have a hard time answering, but that doesn’t mean I feel rudderless or lost.
Most days, my dream is just to stay healthy enough to wake up every morning, work in the garden for a while, and then create art. My purpose is to keep being me; to keep expressing myself. And that’s enough. I am my own purpose. I am enough.
However you are day to day, whether you feel driven by purpose or not, you are valuable and appreciated. You are enough just as you are. Purpose does not equal value. Your self-expression is valuable because it comes from you.
So, keep making, keep showing the world who you are.
Until next time.
JC
This short video:
Love the message (and the French countryside) in this video:
I enjoyed this article from tiny buddha that emphasises connection and serving others as purpose:
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/the-key-to-accomplishing-goals-moving-from-ego-to-spirit/
On my reading list & linked to one of the Blue Zones (are you watching the documentary on Netflix?)
A good read:
Feel free to forward this newsletter to someone who might enjoy it or share snippets on social media (with credit of course).
I loved "Daybook" and yeah, disentangling purpose from hustle is an actual thing, isn't it!