The Purpose of Life is to Create

Even if you aren't an artist.

What if the secret to a fulfilling life isn’t in finding your purpose—but in creating it? That’s a question I was faced with recently as I rambled at the latest crossroads of my life. Everything felt empty. It felt hollow. Whatever I knew (or didn’t know) about life, I knew that it wasn’t meant to feel hollow, empty, meaningless. I had to shift. Turn. Change directions and find a new angle. There had to be more to life, there had to be meaning.

As I sat there, staring at a blank computer screen (again). The reality check I needed hit me with the force of a nuclear bomb. I was sitting around, throwing out empty fishing lines into the universe hoping something was going to catch. It wasn’t. The universe wasn’t going to give me anything, no matter how much effort I spilled out in every direction. If I wanted to find that spark in my life again, if I wanted a sense of something more, I was going to have to pour all that effort into creating it for myself.

My Journey Through Creation: Healing with Painting

Creation, I’m realizing, isn’t just about creating art. It’s about shaping the course of our lives and the way we feel about ourselves. When I was standing at that crossroads last year, I knew that I couldn’t tarry long. I wasn’t someone who could run on empty. I needed that passion, that fire for life that made me hungry to keep living it.