What's It All About Anyway?

Unique Perspectives: What's It All About Anyway?

By Kim Stevens

What am I even doing here?

That question shows up for me a lot. Not in a lost, existential spiral way, but in a deeper, soul-curious way. Like… What IS this all about? Why AM I here?

I love what Joseph Campbell said about the meaning of life, he says “Life has no meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.”

Yes. That!  

The other day I saw a TikTok—this baby and a dog were doing podcast.  It was funny and surprisingly profound. The baby was looking at the dog and saying, "Thanks for being here, weird looking person. You don’t look like the two larger people here.” It struck me funny. But then the baby asked, “Why am I here? What even is this place. Like, where are we and why? I don't remember being here until recently, so like where was I before that? ”

And I laughed. But I also nodded. Because that baby was asking the same question I’m asking in one form or another. What is it all about?  Why am I here? Where did I come from? What are we doing, anyway?

For me, the answer is this: I’m here to lead by example. Not to preach. Not to teach. But to live. To walk it out. To explore what’s possible and then be it. I feel like someone who’s simply committed to elevating the way she lives, and sharing the ride. Bumps and all.

When I learn something new… about energy, about the Universe, about a spiritual law… I don’t want to just talk about it. I want to try it. I want to live it. I want to see what happens when I become it.

And sometimes that looks like being a guide. But mostly it looks like leading by example. I believe that before I arrived here, I had a conversation with God. We sketched out a vision of who I might become. He gifted me some personality traits, some challenges, some raw materials to work with. And then He said: Go see what you can create with it all.

I don’t think there is one path. I think there are a thousand. I think it doesn’t really matter which one we take. Because no matter what road we walk, our soul’s purpose will find a way to show up.

My dad told me, before he passed, that my purpose was to refresh, uplift, and empower the individual spirit. And when he said it… it felt like truth.

So what am I really saying here?

I’m not here to sit on a mountaintop and meditate all day. (Though yes, I do meditate.) But that’s not my life’s purpose. My purpose is far more dynamic than that. I want to live it. I want to feel it. I want to be it.

And I'll close with Joseph Campbell, because he gets it just right when he says, “I don’t think we’re seeking the meaning of life. I think we’re seeking the experience of being alive.”

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Years ago, when I was contemplating an unconventional path, one I felt called to, my son Jake looked at me and simply said, “You do you, Ma.” I loved that.

And maybe it really is that simple. And that us just doing us can be a light for others. And maybe, just maybe that's what we’re all doing here. Leading by example, lighting the way and really being alive.