Practical Purpose

How do you live your actual life? I saw a content creator ask, ”What are your core values?” How do you reconcile your own patterns?

Core Values look like a pretty, neat list of boundaries that unscrolls right on cue. Words that design your every move. Words you inherited from your family, your community, your world. They defend themselves. But, how do you know they align with you?

This is where practice comes in. What do you do everyday? These things are your practice. It’s not complicated. It is hard to accept. It’s easier to see the dangers if someone else is doing it.

Humans are evolving away from hunter/gathers. They don’t have the need to move, like before. Moving meant meaningful connections and better. Now, moving is far more calculated. It’s expensive.

Organizations use core values as a litmus test. We will pay you as long as you fit in. We will expect you to adapt to us. That’s why you need to explore your own and grow. I rarely have been employed where I am not writing. It’s not always poetry. Words are policies, programs, and orders. Words are business plans, flyers, and anthologies. Words are one of my core values.

I’ve moved from nonviolent to antiviolent. Conflict isn’t the problem. I’ve made it a habit to run, to tap into my hunter/gatherer ancestors, and move when stuff gets hard. Escaping the atrocities of Jim Crow is my grandmother’s generation. There’s violence in leaving, unless you’ve developed a philosophy or adopted it.

When people are supported to live in their own purpose, it’s very practical. They build a life around it. When they aren’t, other folks’ obligations and perspectives become the magic carpet. They take us everywhere but where we really need to be.