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Tuesday 07 November 2023
How to find meaning and purpose in our everyday lives
Words by Madelaine Couch
Our modern-day culture breeds hectic and busy lives. If we haven’t got a list of things to do, it can feel as though something is wrong. Yet, amongst the busyness, we are all stressed and burnt out. There needs to be a balance between doing and being.
Megan Dalla-Camina is a best-selling author and women’s mentor. She teaches women all over the world how to step into more fulfilling and empowering lives. In her book, Simple Soulful Sacred, Dalla-Camina highlights the core areas in our lives that are essential for meaning and purpose. These areas are simplicity, livelihood, wellbeing, comfort, soulfulness, consciousness, sacredness, courage, womanhood and sovereignty.
What do we want to create in our lives for more purpose, abundance and passion?
Making space for what’s important is the first step. We are stretched in so many directions. In today’s world, women often try to do and be everything - have a good career, be a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend. We often end up with so little time for ourselves, for our true, authentic selves.
So, what can we do to tap into our inner wisdom?
We can simplify our routine, clear clutter and create daily rituals. Clearing out what no longer serves us has a ripple effect on the rest of our lives. Clearing out items we don’t need, emotions that hold us back, and situations that drain our energy can be liberating.
Marie Kondo is a Japanese organisation consultant. She helps people to clear out and tidy their homes, creating more time and space in their lives for their loved ones.
What can you let go of today?
What about work? Do you feel a sense of meaning and purpose in the work you do? If we follow our curiosity instead of the voices of society and people around us, we are more likely to find meaning in our work. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes that it isn’t money that makes us happy, but doing activities that bring about a state of ‘flow’. In his TED talk, Flow, The Secret to Happiness , he explains that this ‘flow state’ is when we are in the present moment, completely absorbed in the task or activity, almost losing our sense of time. And isn’t that what we want in our work? Make a list of five things you’re curious about. Try one of those activities this week. Who knows where it could lead you.
We can choose a daily wellbeing practice, such as a morning meditation, a daily run, or a healthy breakfast. The act of choosing what really matters to us is the first step to a more authentic life. To go inwards, we must listen to our inner voice. Keeping a daily journal and writing what arises after a morning meditation can be an excellent way to start living a more soul-aligned life. Being connected to our inner guide allows us to live from the heart, and not the ego. Practising present moment awareness, gratitude meditation, rituals, and simplifying are all steps to find meaning in our everyday lives. These ceremonies also help us to feel empowered, choosing the life we want, instead of what others want of us. And the world needs more authentic people living their most abundant, truest lives.