Purpose-filled Purpose

The postings on this site ares my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

My Own in the World

What I need to write about feels much more personal than revealing that one of my family just had a brush with cancer (which I did in recent postings); it's about continually searching for my purpose in the world.

I'm still searching for my ideal role. I do feel closer and closer to it, and I do feel that IBM has enabled me tremendous freedom in charting my contribution to the company and its clients and colleagues, yet the problem with vacations is that they provide extra time for reflection.

I'm coming off of a peak experience in terms of the leadership development mission I just advanced while in India, and I hope it's understandable that inevitably, I'd be wondering, How can I top that? How can I be my most useful and also my most creative in my next mission, which hasn't yet been announced, and so I cannot write about it.

It's fun, but daunting, to daydream about my purpose. Last April, one of my mentors suggested that I write my vision -- all in the present tense in service to the power of suggestion, in cases where I haven't yet achieved the item -- and here are excerpts from it:

• I am moved to laugh routinely and often, and to help others laugh
  
• I am spiritually connected to people, including people who seem different from me initially
  
• I transform these connections into art through writing that is appreciated worldwide, by thousands, or even millions
  
• My writing helps others and me, particularly to feel less lonely in our experience
  
• I have work that enables me to:
  
  
  
  • Meet interesting, kind people
    
  • Write reflectively
    
  • Lead
    
  • Be part of a profound mission
    
  • See the world
    
  • Give charity to causes I value
    
  • Afford more experiences and things that are high-quality, stylish and stimulating
    
  
  
• Along with physical exertion and self-expression...I become refreshed/recharged by appreciating as well as producing:
  
  
  
  • Visual art
    
  • Music
    
  • Reading.
    
  
  

Earlier today, I read an article on Flannery O'Connor from a past issue of "The New York Times" that I had left on my night-table prior to our departure for India, and it reminded me of an author's advice in her careers for creative people book; she suggested, for inspiration, also thinking of "a creator" whose creativity I admire. I love Flannery O'Connor! How can her creativity inform my future creativity?