I just finished the two Monk and Robot books yesterday and that was exactly the part that leapt out at me, and I realised I’d made my life far more complicated than it needed to be by feeling I had to have a Purpose. Such gentle, thoughtful writing - I loved them.
They are wonderful, aren’t they? I need to reread the second one too. It’s been a while. I love that you’ve pulled out “complicated,” which - of course - juxtaposes with “simple.” I’ve been thinking a lot about simple as I take this quick little break from writing for my Substack. There’s something really important there. Thanks for being here!
I would agree with others that rest is important and allowed. Now that I am retired....I think maybe just finding the next best thing each day and doing it, is enough of a purpose. Loving, giving, sharing....being.
"... the next best thing ..." Yep. Some days (most days!) that's the wisest course of action, and sometimes we're better off dealing with whatever is right in front of us than worrying about what's hidden around the corner or beyond the horizon.
Oh, Jen. You are ever the voice of comfort and reason, and you make an excellent point. 2025 has certainly been a bit of a drain on our resources so far. I have so many conversations about how hard it is to keep doing anything in the face of all the fear and chaos, and yet I keep returning to my personal grindstone without offering myself much respite. Do as I say not as I do, right? 😉 Thanks for the gentle - and oh-so-valuable - reminder that it's okay to rest. It might even be fucking heroic.
Thank you so much, Melissa. And I agree that Oliver would fall squarely on the side of existing and marveling vs. feeling a need to inhabit any particular role or purpose. It's funny how that ubiquitous line exists in my head, though. Your comment calls out that some part of me responds to her words from my own insecurity, mishearing her intended meaning even when another part of me knows full well that she is not chiding, but inviting. Interesting. Thanks for helping me see that.
Jamie! You're a writer, you'll always be a writer. Even if you're not sitting in front of your computer, actively writing, you're always writing. I'm amazed at the amount of time I sit and think about everything in a whole new context since I committed myself. I look at everything differently. You're a deep thinker. I think our purpose, why we were put here, is to love. That's really hard! You do it by thinking, sharing, protesting, creating art with words and other media. Purpose. Not the "what am I going to be when I grow up" kind of purpose. One that goes much deeper. You do that just by being you. Your purpose is to be you. xo I hope that makes sense.
This is so beautiful, Nan. Thank you so much - not only for the kind words you've directed at me, but dor saying that we are put here to love. What a wonderful and hopeful belief to hold ... and if we truly believe that, how might it change the world?
Also - I love that your commitment to your writing helps you look at everything differently and in a way that amazes you. "Amazing" is a word that gets grossly overused, but - in this case - is perfect. We SHOULD be more amazed at the world around us. Every damn day. xo
Love this Jamie! I often feel the need to earn rest when I’m at the height of stress. It’s a trained behavior. Thank you for this reminder that we are worthy by just being here and by marveling at the fact that we are here in the world
Ugh. "Earning rest" is a concept I understand only too well. Why do we do that to ourselves? Even saying "we deserve rest" still has the vibe of letting you know that you could be undeserving. We should be saying "rest is a right," but we never quite seem to get there, do we?
Anyway - here's to checking out and marveling whenever we can bring ourselves to do so. 😍
I really loved this piece and it struck so many chords. I think this whole "purpose" thing is another stick we use to beat ourselves. The vast majority of humans throughout history have done whatever is necessary to feed themselves and that remains the case for the vast majority of humans now. I think "purpose" is a modern, Western myth that helps almost no one. Businesses use it cynically for "purpose-washing". It's an over-simplification. There are things that give us more satisfaction and joy (for some of us writing, making art, creating, inventing) and things that give many of us less joy (for some of us washing up, admin, sorting out paperwork). I *feel* as if I was put on this planet to write, but I actually believe I was a random collision of an ovum and a sperm. Purpose is a story we tell ourselves, like everything else. Sometimes it's helpful. Sometimes it isn't. And I think it often isn't...
I love this conversation! When the time came that I realized my joyful activities had become checklist items that produced guilt, the "shoulds" ... then I remembered being a little girl that delighted in playing house... yup, the dishes and ordering the dog around ;) Like playing "I’m in Charge". It was fun. What happened to that?
I think community, like this one, is making a difference in how we play as adults. The bottom line for me is the honesty and emotional vulnerability that puts both oars in the water. Even doing hard things can be fun with a group that gets the emotional understanding of connectedness.
Thank you Jamie! You are a ray of sunshine in my day today! At age 70 and working on my book. With several administrative balls in the air, and big losses: my Mom's passing, friends, extended family funerals, and then the cottage burned down on Monday night in Lac LaRonge, northern Saskatchewan, in the horrible wild fires occurring there now.
My old Group Process course: task and maintenance functions put both oars in the water. Small groups can grow us up, that lifelong process of maturing into each moment, with emotional understanding and the preeminent need for connection. Git 'er done or not with playfulness. All the fragility, impermanence, all the amazing beauty with small groups of two or more.
Two years ago I was at the cottage with my Auntie and Uncle, and we were having this conversation, about my writing and my take on all things emotional, maturity, and the power of small groups and she completed my sentence with "...they can move mountains". Said with the grit of someone who knows cold winters in the north.
First - thanks so much for being here and for sharing so generously, especially in the wake of so many personal tragedies. Very sorry to hear about your mom. And then your cottage on top of that. My heart goes out to you.
I can totally relate to the onset of the *shoulds* ... it's a terrible feeling that can creep up on us and take over almost before we realize what's happening. But - oh! - what joy we reclaim when we send those shoulds packing and decide to, as you say, "play as adults." That is SO important.
Sending you much love and playfulness and all the best for building those small groups and communities. We need them more than ever now.
Thank you so much, Christina, for being here and taking the time to leave such a thought-provoking comment. I think you’re right that “purpose” is a construct that doesn’t really do anyone much good. Which makes me want to dive deeper into when it first came into fashion and who was influencing its popularity.
Your description of life as “a random collision of an ovum and a sperm” underlines the idea that - as storytelling animals - perhaps we fabricate a purpose in order to create meaning, to give ourselves something to hold onto. Is that bad or good? Probably it’s neutral, but how it affects us depends on how we relate to that story - whether or not we, as you say, use it as a stick to beat ourselves up.
Always a pleasure to read your work, Jamie. I agree it would be fascinating to find out who started this particular fashion and what got it going. I suspect Simon Sinek's "Start with why?" played a part in it, but would be very interesting to find out more. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. xx
“It is enough to exist and marvel. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.”
This. So simple and so true.
Someone once remarked that we are “human beings” and not “human doings.” In our task and achievement obsessed culture, the beauty of “existing and marveling” has been all but lost. Thanks for reminding us of this powerful truth.
"... we are 'human beings' and not 'human doings.'" <---- I LOVE this!
It's so true, and yet we mostly define ourselves based on what we DO and not who we ARE ... who we be? 😆
The tragedy is that we spend so much time and energy and attention on doing that we miss huge swaths of the experience of just existing and marveling. DOING - the hustle and bustle of it, the rat race of it, the Sisyphean grind of it - steals so much of our energy and joy. We need to take that back. It matters.
Thanks for coming by. Glad to have you hear. And SO looking foward to your podcast on Hedy Lamarr. I know of her, but I don't know the whole story. I'm so glad Cathy Joseph restacked your trailer so I was sure not to miss it!
I feel so much comraderie with this peace. To allow yourself to "just live", what a wild and precious gift that is in and of itself. I was recently listening to a podcast where they interviewed this super wealthy dude, a classic rags to riches story, so while this advice applied to wealth generation (and is attributed to Warren Buffet), I actually think it applies to most of life. The difference is in the 1%. Its the small, incremental steps you take that ultimately create a slow, sustainable build. I try to remember that when I feel stuck or unproductive or incapable of words. Where's the 1%?
This is intriguing. Does he mean that it's just about continuing to do the 1%, or that you have to figure out which particular 1% will have the biggest impact? Either way it's giving me a SIMPLIFY vibe that is very appealing. The word SLOW is also calling out to me ... or maybe about to throw something at my head in order to get my attention. Ha! We'll have to talk more! 😉
I think its an and/both. Identifying the 1% that may have the biggest impact and then continuing to do that even when you don't see an immediate return. You demonstrated this exact concept today when you just wrote, even though you didn't have a tidy way of tying it all together and the words wouldn't come. The 1% may be to just write, and the long term pay off is the body of work you're amassing and creating here, even when its messy. And girl, I feel ya on SLOW. I'm snailing it up over here!
I can Sooo relate to this piece Jamie. In fact, I left a lengthy comment on Christina Patterson’s piece just a few moments ago. In 2021 I realized I couldn’t create any longer but it didn’t apply to everything, just certain things that also meant a lot to me. I still enjoyed taking digital photos which turned into street photography but there was a pervasive feeling of “something is off or missing”. I began writing on Substack thinking that to write about it might be the cure. But it wasn’t. I had difficulty writing as well. Finally I walked out of that state but, for me, it didn’t happen overnight and I still don’t know exactly how it happened but I am now in a very different place. And while I was going through it, hearing the familiar, “but it’s part of the journey” didn’t help either. Even though it’s probably true, it many times, doesn’t feel good while we are going through it. So whatever “it” is, for you, I empathize with you.
I love this piece because I can see the elements of being human through the examples you give in the Monk and Robot books and in your lived experience. And I love, love, love how you tie it up at the end, “It’s okay if you’re not productive all the time or aren’t sure what your purpose is or if you even want one. Sometimes meaning is overrated.” There is a feeling of deep rest, and the permission to take, it in this sentence. xx
Thank you so much for being here and for sharing your experience, Rhaine. I just read your comment on Christina's piece as well. I am glad you found your way out of your "frozen" and "blocked" state. Sometimes it's a long journey, but thank goodness we persist.
I'm curious what it felt like for you - if the "something is off or missing" feeling was more around not liking what you were producing or not being able to find the motivation to produce at all or something else.
I haven't yet made time to sit and write through my own feelings, but my general impression is that what's stumping me is a combination of feeling tired, involuntarily apathetic, and unsure. As you said, it doesn't feel good, but it's not that I feel depressed. It's more like feeling temporarily disconnected from the part of myself that powers my creativity. I know she's still in there, I just have to find her.
Maybe it just boils down to needing to step back and take a breath. Or a nap. Naps usually help. xo
Interesting questions. Perhaps it was an illusion or naivete on my part. Because I grew up not having much, I had always looked at my creativity as something that was inside me, something that no one could ever take away-that I would always “have” it and that it was my superpower. Then when I found I couldn’t paint or create visual art in the way I always had, it was MIA. I had feelings of deep loss and confusion because I couldn’t force it to come back – and I tried. I read articles on getting unblocked and nothing helped. It felt like my creativity had slid into a deep hole and it was sharing space with old trauma that hadn’t been processed. I could also sense that it felt like unresolved grief was tangled up with the creativity and I didn’t know how to untangle it. Until now. Doing a deep dive into neuroscience and the trainings I have been doing to get my hypnotist title reinstated has given me tools that have helped. Also, I think the passing of time and becoming more a part of the Substack community has also contributed to thawing out and feeling like I am no longer stuck in whatever that was. Thanks for asking. It was good to articulate it 😊
There is so much I want to say from this beautiful post, Jamie, but I'll limit myself to two. The easy one first - having writer's block does not invalidate you as a writer. My guess is that your head and heart are too full of the distracting noise raining down on us to allow your creativity to easily flow - but it's still there, as evidenced in this post.
The longer response concerns purpose. I don't think of it as a career. What if your writing (and art!) are the vehicles you use to bring your purpose to life?
My personal belief is in reincarnation, and that we choose at a high level what we want to learn in this lifetime. In that belief, your purpose is what you came into this world to experience, which allows your soul to grow. I loved, "It is enough to exist and marvel" - especially the marvel part. Maybe part of your purpose is to bring a sense of the marvelous to the world. You do that beautifully! 😍
Thank you, Cathy, for such a lovely and loving comment. 🥰 You really know how to make a girl feel all warm and fuzzy.
It's hard to accept, but I know you're right about the fact that we are writers even when we are not writing. So much of writing takes place during time when we don't have pen in hand or fingers on keyboard. Writing is how we process life. These distracted and semi-fallow times are tough, though.
I love what you've said about writing being a vehicle rather than a purpose. You and my friend Marcia (who commented below, and who - starting in 2020 - led a group of writers through several years of weekly writing Zooms called "Writing through the Apocalypse" - wonderful experience!) are on the same page there. It's such an inspiring reframe, and one I wouldn't have seen without you bringing it to my attention. I will definitely be thinking about that more.
And I also love the bit about reincarnation. Have you seen the Pixar movie, "Soul"? I think there may be some parallels there. May need a rewatch.
Thank you, thank you for your support and encouragement! So glad to call you friend. 💜
I just finished the two Monk and Robot books yesterday and that was exactly the part that leapt out at me, and I realised I’d made my life far more complicated than it needed to be by feeling I had to have a Purpose. Such gentle, thoughtful writing - I loved them.
They are wonderful, aren’t they? I need to reread the second one too. It’s been a while. I love that you’ve pulled out “complicated,” which - of course - juxtaposes with “simple.” I’ve been thinking a lot about simple as I take this quick little break from writing for my Substack. There’s something really important there. Thanks for being here!
Beautiful post Jamie. Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah. You have made my day by being here.
Wow, just wonderful!
Thanks so much, Amy. And thanks for being here!
Lovely piece. Thank you for permission to be. ✨🙏💛
Thank you, and you're so welcome. I clearly need the permission myself, seeing as I keep coming back to Chambers' book again and again. 😆
I would agree with others that rest is important and allowed. Now that I am retired....I think maybe just finding the next best thing each day and doing it, is enough of a purpose. Loving, giving, sharing....being.
"... the next best thing ..." Yep. Some days (most days!) that's the wisest course of action, and sometimes we're better off dealing with whatever is right in front of us than worrying about what's hidden around the corner or beyond the horizon.
Thank you for that, and for being here!
You have the words Jamie: don't discount that 2025 could be zapping your creativity & ability to care. Sometimes we need to rest. And that's ok 👌
Oh, Jen. You are ever the voice of comfort and reason, and you make an excellent point. 2025 has certainly been a bit of a drain on our resources so far. I have so many conversations about how hard it is to keep doing anything in the face of all the fear and chaos, and yet I keep returning to my personal grindstone without offering myself much respite. Do as I say not as I do, right? 😉 Thanks for the gentle - and oh-so-valuable - reminder that it's okay to rest. It might even be fucking heroic.
A lovely, thoughtful post. I do think Oliver would approve of the answer, “I plan to exist and marvel.” She wasn’t insisting on having a purpose.
Thank you so much, Melissa. And I agree that Oliver would fall squarely on the side of existing and marveling vs. feeling a need to inhabit any particular role or purpose. It's funny how that ubiquitous line exists in my head, though. Your comment calls out that some part of me responds to her words from my own insecurity, mishearing her intended meaning even when another part of me knows full well that she is not chiding, but inviting. Interesting. Thanks for helping me see that.
Jamie! You're a writer, you'll always be a writer. Even if you're not sitting in front of your computer, actively writing, you're always writing. I'm amazed at the amount of time I sit and think about everything in a whole new context since I committed myself. I look at everything differently. You're a deep thinker. I think our purpose, why we were put here, is to love. That's really hard! You do it by thinking, sharing, protesting, creating art with words and other media. Purpose. Not the "what am I going to be when I grow up" kind of purpose. One that goes much deeper. You do that just by being you. Your purpose is to be you. xo I hope that makes sense.
This is so beautiful, Nan. Thank you so much - not only for the kind words you've directed at me, but dor saying that we are put here to love. What a wonderful and hopeful belief to hold ... and if we truly believe that, how might it change the world?
Also - I love that your commitment to your writing helps you look at everything differently and in a way that amazes you. "Amazing" is a word that gets grossly overused, but - in this case - is perfect. We SHOULD be more amazed at the world around us. Every damn day. xo
LOVE you, Jamie! xo
Love this Jamie! I often feel the need to earn rest when I’m at the height of stress. It’s a trained behavior. Thank you for this reminder that we are worthy by just being here and by marveling at the fact that we are here in the world
Ugh. "Earning rest" is a concept I understand only too well. Why do we do that to ourselves? Even saying "we deserve rest" still has the vibe of letting you know that you could be undeserving. We should be saying "rest is a right," but we never quite seem to get there, do we?
Anyway - here's to checking out and marveling whenever we can bring ourselves to do so. 😍
I really loved this piece and it struck so many chords. I think this whole "purpose" thing is another stick we use to beat ourselves. The vast majority of humans throughout history have done whatever is necessary to feed themselves and that remains the case for the vast majority of humans now. I think "purpose" is a modern, Western myth that helps almost no one. Businesses use it cynically for "purpose-washing". It's an over-simplification. There are things that give us more satisfaction and joy (for some of us writing, making art, creating, inventing) and things that give many of us less joy (for some of us washing up, admin, sorting out paperwork). I *feel* as if I was put on this planet to write, but I actually believe I was a random collision of an ovum and a sperm. Purpose is a story we tell ourselves, like everything else. Sometimes it's helpful. Sometimes it isn't. And I think it often isn't...
I love this conversation! When the time came that I realized my joyful activities had become checklist items that produced guilt, the "shoulds" ... then I remembered being a little girl that delighted in playing house... yup, the dishes and ordering the dog around ;) Like playing "I’m in Charge". It was fun. What happened to that?
I think community, like this one, is making a difference in how we play as adults. The bottom line for me is the honesty and emotional vulnerability that puts both oars in the water. Even doing hard things can be fun with a group that gets the emotional understanding of connectedness.
Thank you Jamie! You are a ray of sunshine in my day today! At age 70 and working on my book. With several administrative balls in the air, and big losses: my Mom's passing, friends, extended family funerals, and then the cottage burned down on Monday night in Lac LaRonge, northern Saskatchewan, in the horrible wild fires occurring there now.
My old Group Process course: task and maintenance functions put both oars in the water. Small groups can grow us up, that lifelong process of maturing into each moment, with emotional understanding and the preeminent need for connection. Git 'er done or not with playfulness. All the fragility, impermanence, all the amazing beauty with small groups of two or more.
Two years ago I was at the cottage with my Auntie and Uncle, and we were having this conversation, about my writing and my take on all things emotional, maturity, and the power of small groups and she completed my sentence with "...they can move mountains". Said with the grit of someone who knows cold winters in the north.
Hello, Shannon.
First - thanks so much for being here and for sharing so generously, especially in the wake of so many personal tragedies. Very sorry to hear about your mom. And then your cottage on top of that. My heart goes out to you.
I can totally relate to the onset of the *shoulds* ... it's a terrible feeling that can creep up on us and take over almost before we realize what's happening. But - oh! - what joy we reclaim when we send those shoulds packing and decide to, as you say, "play as adults." That is SO important.
Sending you much love and playfulness and all the best for building those small groups and communities. We need them more than ever now.
Thank you so much, Christina, for being here and taking the time to leave such a thought-provoking comment. I think you’re right that “purpose” is a construct that doesn’t really do anyone much good. Which makes me want to dive deeper into when it first came into fashion and who was influencing its popularity.
Your description of life as “a random collision of an ovum and a sperm” underlines the idea that - as storytelling animals - perhaps we fabricate a purpose in order to create meaning, to give ourselves something to hold onto. Is that bad or good? Probably it’s neutral, but how it affects us depends on how we relate to that story - whether or not we, as you say, use it as a stick to beat ourselves up.
Fascinating. Thanks again. Wheels are whirring!
Always a pleasure to read your work, Jamie. I agree it would be fascinating to find out who started this particular fashion and what got it going. I suspect Simon Sinek's "Start with why?" played a part in it, but would be very interesting to find out more. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. xx
This is medicine 🤗
Have you read the book? I think you might like it.
Soul was such a wonderful movie - thank you for reminding me of it!
I couldn’t agree more about writing in our heads as well as tangibly recording them somewhere. I do that all the time!!! 💕
“It is enough to exist and marvel. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.”
This. So simple and so true.
Someone once remarked that we are “human beings” and not “human doings.” In our task and achievement obsessed culture, the beauty of “existing and marveling” has been all but lost. Thanks for reminding us of this powerful truth.
"... we are 'human beings' and not 'human doings.'" <---- I LOVE this!
It's so true, and yet we mostly define ourselves based on what we DO and not who we ARE ... who we be? 😆
The tragedy is that we spend so much time and energy and attention on doing that we miss huge swaths of the experience of just existing and marveling. DOING - the hustle and bustle of it, the rat race of it, the Sisyphean grind of it - steals so much of our energy and joy. We need to take that back. It matters.
Thanks for coming by. Glad to have you hear. And SO looking foward to your podcast on Hedy Lamarr. I know of her, but I don't know the whole story. I'm so glad Cathy Joseph restacked your trailer so I was sure not to miss it!
I feel so much comraderie with this peace. To allow yourself to "just live", what a wild and precious gift that is in and of itself. I was recently listening to a podcast where they interviewed this super wealthy dude, a classic rags to riches story, so while this advice applied to wealth generation (and is attributed to Warren Buffet), I actually think it applies to most of life. The difference is in the 1%. Its the small, incremental steps you take that ultimately create a slow, sustainable build. I try to remember that when I feel stuck or unproductive or incapable of words. Where's the 1%?
This is intriguing. Does he mean that it's just about continuing to do the 1%, or that you have to figure out which particular 1% will have the biggest impact? Either way it's giving me a SIMPLIFY vibe that is very appealing. The word SLOW is also calling out to me ... or maybe about to throw something at my head in order to get my attention. Ha! We'll have to talk more! 😉
I think its an and/both. Identifying the 1% that may have the biggest impact and then continuing to do that even when you don't see an immediate return. You demonstrated this exact concept today when you just wrote, even though you didn't have a tidy way of tying it all together and the words wouldn't come. The 1% may be to just write, and the long term pay off is the body of work you're amassing and creating here, even when its messy. And girl, I feel ya on SLOW. I'm snailing it up over here!
The snail might need to become my new mascot. Seriously. Snails unite!!
🐌🧡
I can Sooo relate to this piece Jamie. In fact, I left a lengthy comment on Christina Patterson’s piece just a few moments ago. In 2021 I realized I couldn’t create any longer but it didn’t apply to everything, just certain things that also meant a lot to me. I still enjoyed taking digital photos which turned into street photography but there was a pervasive feeling of “something is off or missing”. I began writing on Substack thinking that to write about it might be the cure. But it wasn’t. I had difficulty writing as well. Finally I walked out of that state but, for me, it didn’t happen overnight and I still don’t know exactly how it happened but I am now in a very different place. And while I was going through it, hearing the familiar, “but it’s part of the journey” didn’t help either. Even though it’s probably true, it many times, doesn’t feel good while we are going through it. So whatever “it” is, for you, I empathize with you.
I love this piece because I can see the elements of being human through the examples you give in the Monk and Robot books and in your lived experience. And I love, love, love how you tie it up at the end, “It’s okay if you’re not productive all the time or aren’t sure what your purpose is or if you even want one. Sometimes meaning is overrated.” There is a feeling of deep rest, and the permission to take, it in this sentence. xx
Thank you so much for being here and for sharing your experience, Rhaine. I just read your comment on Christina's piece as well. I am glad you found your way out of your "frozen" and "blocked" state. Sometimes it's a long journey, but thank goodness we persist.
I'm curious what it felt like for you - if the "something is off or missing" feeling was more around not liking what you were producing or not being able to find the motivation to produce at all or something else.
I haven't yet made time to sit and write through my own feelings, but my general impression is that what's stumping me is a combination of feeling tired, involuntarily apathetic, and unsure. As you said, it doesn't feel good, but it's not that I feel depressed. It's more like feeling temporarily disconnected from the part of myself that powers my creativity. I know she's still in there, I just have to find her.
Maybe it just boils down to needing to step back and take a breath. Or a nap. Naps usually help. xo
Interesting questions. Perhaps it was an illusion or naivete on my part. Because I grew up not having much, I had always looked at my creativity as something that was inside me, something that no one could ever take away-that I would always “have” it and that it was my superpower. Then when I found I couldn’t paint or create visual art in the way I always had, it was MIA. I had feelings of deep loss and confusion because I couldn’t force it to come back – and I tried. I read articles on getting unblocked and nothing helped. It felt like my creativity had slid into a deep hole and it was sharing space with old trauma that hadn’t been processed. I could also sense that it felt like unresolved grief was tangled up with the creativity and I didn’t know how to untangle it. Until now. Doing a deep dive into neuroscience and the trainings I have been doing to get my hypnotist title reinstated has given me tools that have helped. Also, I think the passing of time and becoming more a part of the Substack community has also contributed to thawing out and feeling like I am no longer stuck in whatever that was. Thanks for asking. It was good to articulate it 😊
There is so much I want to say from this beautiful post, Jamie, but I'll limit myself to two. The easy one first - having writer's block does not invalidate you as a writer. My guess is that your head and heart are too full of the distracting noise raining down on us to allow your creativity to easily flow - but it's still there, as evidenced in this post.
The longer response concerns purpose. I don't think of it as a career. What if your writing (and art!) are the vehicles you use to bring your purpose to life?
My personal belief is in reincarnation, and that we choose at a high level what we want to learn in this lifetime. In that belief, your purpose is what you came into this world to experience, which allows your soul to grow. I loved, "It is enough to exist and marvel" - especially the marvel part. Maybe part of your purpose is to bring a sense of the marvelous to the world. You do that beautifully! 😍
Thank you, Cathy, for such a lovely and loving comment. 🥰 You really know how to make a girl feel all warm and fuzzy.
It's hard to accept, but I know you're right about the fact that we are writers even when we are not writing. So much of writing takes place during time when we don't have pen in hand or fingers on keyboard. Writing is how we process life. These distracted and semi-fallow times are tough, though.
I love what you've said about writing being a vehicle rather than a purpose. You and my friend Marcia (who commented below, and who - starting in 2020 - led a group of writers through several years of weekly writing Zooms called "Writing through the Apocalypse" - wonderful experience!) are on the same page there. It's such an inspiring reframe, and one I wouldn't have seen without you bringing it to my attention. I will definitely be thinking about that more.
And I also love the bit about reincarnation. Have you seen the Pixar movie, "Soul"? I think there may be some parallels there. May need a rewatch.
Thank you, thank you for your support and encouragement! So glad to call you friend. 💜