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At a lecture I attended recently, a writer said that parenthood eliminates the questions about the purpose of life in a way that doesn’t happen for people who don’t have children.
In a way I understand his point. Much of my purpose at this point is to ensure safe, healthy and happy environments for my children, to ensure our genes are carried on, to do what I can so that the world is a good place for my children to live in. There is a sense of fulfillment in these activities that I appreciate and that calms me and slows me down.
For me, though, being a mother isn’t everything. I do want to touch the lives of others, I do want to enjoy the beautiful sensory pleasures the world has to offer, I want to have quiet time to focus and reflect, I want sleep and exercise and the ability to use my mind and skills.
I think becoming a parent has calmed down my need to achieve. It has made me more content with small things. I do feel a certain sense of achievement and purpose in providing my kids with a safe, loving, enriching atmosphere.
What do you think? If you are a parent, has parenthood eliminated, or reduced your questions about the purpose of life? If you aren’t a parent, what do you think the purpose of life is?
1 comment:
I don't think it's eliminated the question at all for me. But it has focused it, and deepened it. As have age, and life experience.
Even as I prepare to leave my work and stay home with my babies for a while, I feel more comfortable and confident than ever that I will return, someday, to the kind of work I've been doing. And that it's important: both to me and to the world.
Having my babies has made me more fearless, and less willing to accept compromises that don't really work for me. For that, I'm grateful.
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