Combining Purposes in South Africa
On my way to the bungalow to lead the workshop, I had to walk around an animal that I had never seen before until that week. As I did so–careful not to disturb it–I thought, yes, this is a general model for how to create deeply meaningful experiences.
(The bungalow with the animals)
In November, my wife, Cathy, and I had the opportunity to go to South Africa for a week. Ian Rothmann and the Optentia Research Group at North-West University, near Johannesburg, invited me to participate in a workshop on life crafting. I presented the first half of our purpose training workshop–the part that guides people in creating possibilities for their lives. In addition, two other scholars, Llewelyn van Zyl and Bryan Dik, taught their fascinating material on life crafting.
I knew that I would enjoy the trip, but it ended up being much more meaningful than I had anticipated. Why?
When we got back, I had a serious case of jet lag that lasted for about a week. It had me walking into walls–both figuratively and literally. While I stumbled around, in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out what made the trip so powerful. Eventually, I realized its impact came from combining purposes across domains.
When we think about our lives, we naturally separate them into different areas or domains. These domains can be conceptualized in many different ways. I think in terms of four domains: vocation, relationships, vitality, and recreation. To maximize our purpose in life, we want to have purpose in each of these domains.
This is what happened with the South Africa Trip. It delivered purpose in all four of these domains.
Vocationally, I got to practice my craft of purpose training in a new setting with new people. The workshop participants asked great questions, and I learned a lot from the other two presenters. Furthermore, I got to see how Ian Rothmann, a well-known positive psychologist, takes an entrepreneurial approach to promoting well-being in and through an academic setting–something that I’m interested in doing with purpose.
(The workshop participants)
Relationally, having Cathy with me was a joy. At times, the trip felt like a second honeymoon. The workshop was held at a private game reserve, and they put us up in a glamping-style tent on the shore of a lake that had hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and other beasts. Sharing these many new experiences together was a rich complement to the everyday moments back home that make up our lives together.
(After a game drive)
Recreationally, what can I say? We went on several game drives and got to see all manner of animals. They included a pride of lions eating a recent kill, a cheetah taking down an impala, and a herd of elephants tromping off somewhere. We also had many, fascinating cultural experiences.
(On a game drive)
In terms of vitality, the travel to and from South Africa was strenuous. It was close to 30 hours door-to-door. The longest leg of the trip was a 16-hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg. As I get older, I’m unfortunately becoming more apprehensive about travel. It disrupts the routine that I seem to crave more and more. While the trip wasn’t easy, it was doable, and I learned that I can push myself harder while traveling than I had realized and still be just fine.
(Eight hours into the flight)
So, what do I do with this experience now? To start, I am grateful for it. It’s nothing that I ever thought that I would get to do. Looking forward, it makes me want to create more of such experiences. What are other ways that I can combine purposes across domains? Who knows what form these experiences will take, but it’s exciting to think about pursuing them.
Updates
We’re developing a second version of our purpose workshop. Our original workshop focuses on people who have a lot of flexibility with their future plans, such as students or retirees. People who are in the middle of their careers usually don’t have that flexibility–especially if they have additional family obligations. Our new workshop will apply our Possibility Management Model to their situation. It should be quite powerful.
When you read this essay, Substack (the hosting platform) might ask you to donate money to me. This is their request, not mine. Their business model is to take a small position of donations.
Bradley, it is so beautiful to observe how you make sense of your experiences. We would love to have you closer to us and learn from you, but of course the traveling is never easy, something that I can also understand because I am getting older. But, it was wonderful to have you in South Africa and I hope that there will be future opportunities, also having your family around you. Your work on purpose is inspiring and thank you for sharing that with us.