Disclosure Day
If you have seen the new Steven Spielberg movie Disclosure Day, you will have witnessed the main character, played by Emily Blunt, experience what many people do when feeling unfulfilled, undervalued, insignificant, and uncertain about what to do. They change what they can control, their job, the city they live in, or their relationships.
Realizing Your Purpose
Truth be told, it took me a while to understand what it means to realize your purpose.
Art is one way we realize our purpose, but what does that mean?
To create something tangible (real) that comes from your unique and significant human foundation.
To step back, look at what you have created and acknowledge (realize) your uniqueness and significance.
Manifestation Through The Lens Of Purpose
I was mentioning Brené Brown at a morning networking event called Purpose Coffee when someone fired back quickly, “I hate Brené Brown.” You can imagine my shock, not only because I believe many of the things Brené believes, but also because of her quick, strong dislike of someone.
Why Clichés are Clichés
I recently gave a toast in a backyard filled with black-and-gold balloons, oversized letters that spelled PROM, as well as 30 high school students and thier parents.
I took it upon myself to do what every person making this type of speech does: I told them to keep being themselves and follow their hearts, cliché words of encouragement that held a truth but will remain meaningless until they are challenged.
Purpose Lady
In the last week, yes, in one week, I was called a coach (I do not have a certificate), a photographer (which I do have a certificate for, but have not been practicing for 20 years), and a teacher (again, no certificate).
Talk about an identity crisis.
It’s Magic
Magic embodies two truths that sit side by side. The unbelievable and the obvious. The unbelievable to the one the trick is being done for, and the obvious to the trickster.
Toxicity in the workplace robs people of the opportunity to earn fulfillment.
Someone told me at an event that corporations like to maintain a toxic environment. Ten minutes later, a breath of toxicity swept through the room.
Everyone’s Editor
I can’t help but feel the parallels between writing a book and living life. The more I write, the less clarity I have about how and why I am writing. The more we live, the less clarity we have about how and why we are living.
Being Supreme
Spoiler Alert!
Marty yells at his pregnant girlfriend, Rachel, “I have a purpose!” In this heartbreaking moment, he is trying to justify leaving her to compete in a table tennis tournament in Japan. Not only is it heartbreaking because of the state in which he is leaving her, but he also implies that he is the “supreme” because she lacks a purpose.
Is the word upheaval too strong to associate with Midlife?
We are hearing the word "upheaval" constantly in the news: “We are in a global upheaval.”
You will frequently hear me use the term "upheaval" in relation to adolescence and midlife; in fact, adolescent and midlife upheavals are two of the mysteries I set out to solve in the book I am writing. I will be honest, though, every time I use it, I think it’s too strong a word, especially in relation to what is happening in the world today.
Art Makes Art
Is your legacy an unsolvable mystery you leave behind for others to solve?
When my father died at 85, he didn’t tie up his life neatly by selling a company, writing a book, putting his name on a building, or filling a bank account for future generations, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t leave a legacy.
Matt, Jane and Me
Recently, Matt Galloway, host of The Current on CBC radio, asked one of his guests, “You mentioned the true authentic person, what does that mean?”
Whenever I am working on a project, I always imagine myself being interviewed by Matt, so when he asked the question, I thought, “How would I answer it?”
Spoiler Alert
I am not who you think I am.
My purpose is not to help you find your purpose; it is to help you maintain your authenticity.
I’m sure if you were asked by a friend to describe what I can do for them, you would say, “Catherine will help you find your purpose.” That is something I do, but my real value, my purpose, is…
What Does Martin Scorsesses Have To Do With Purpose?
Like Martin Scorsese, I like to know how things work.
It is now clear to me that the years I spent studying authenticity and purpose were not to uncover my purpose, but to understand how purpose works as a tool to find and maintain my authenticity, so that I can find belonging in this inauthentic world.
Bird’s Eye View
Bird’s-eye view of what it means to be Self-Driven vs Purpose-Driven through the 9th inning of the World Series.
What I Know So Far
With seven chapters of the first messy draft of my book done, this is what I know so far.
I am motivated by what I can’t see. Something beyond the horizon that has not been created yet.
No Magic Bullet Podcast Interview
Purposeful people are not always the ones who have fame and fortune. Some of the most purposeful people are those standing in an Ontario river fly fishing.
Why Write A Book Now?
The time to write my book is now, because my dog Toshi died.
Diving In Naked
I am about to dive into one thing that is everything: every life experience I choose to give meaning to, every one of the 371 letters I wrote to a house and all 83 Moleskine research journals I filled.
