Reexamining Purpose and Blogging in Retirement

Finding Purpose by Accomplishing Goals

I wrote about Purpose in Retirement 3 years ago. It was the first topic in my Year of Learning. As I said in that post, I find a lot of purpose by achieving goals.

Every couple of weeks I sit down to write another blog post. Sometimes I wonder, “Why am I doing this? Is anyone even reading these?” Without a boss, deadlines, or expectations from anyone else, it’s easy to question whether the time is worthwhile.

I’ve discovered that I’m much less motivated when no one is holding me accountable. There’s no boss expecting results—only that little voice in my head reminding me I’m behind. (Another goal is teaching that voice to relax.)

What is the Purpose of Blogging?

Seasoned goal-setter that I am, I always want to have some way to measure if my efforts are paying off the way I’d hoped. When I’d created this Website, I’d wanted it to be a way to promote “Living Life Fully” in honor of my friend, Craig, who exemplified that attitude despite an ALS diagnosis.

Though I feel proud of my Website, I haven’t focused much on promoting it, and there are certainly many other higher-quality sites that spread goodness and messages about living life fully.

That’s when I begin wondering whether I should spend my time doing something more productive—or, maybe the opposite, invest much more energy into improving and promoting the site.

Blogging is a way for me to have a little legacy – something that I hope will still be here after I’m not. Years from now, my children or grandchildren may stumble across these thoughts and better understand what mattered to me. Even if the audience is small, writing helps me leave behind more than photographs—it leaves behind my values.

I tried to improve my blog in the 2nd month of my Year of Learning, when I was learning about blogging! So at least blogging serves the purpose of reminding me of topics I’ve already grappled with!

His Purpose is Love: Brian Jeansonne

At the end of my Learning about Purpose blog post, I concluded with:

I started the year thinking my purpose was “to be as happy and healthy as possible” but I’m going to update it to this: My purpose is to love.

And the end of my Learning about Blogging blog post, I concluded with:

I would like its [the CarpeDiemDay Website’s] primary purpose to be to promote others and other sites who are spreading messages about living life to the fullest.

I recently discovered Brian Jeansonne. His story deserves much more than a mention and I intend to write much more about him in the future. (Spoiler alert: He will be my next Carpe Diem Hero.)

He not only exemplifies living life to the fullest, but ends every one of his messages with “Love.”

The following video is so powerful. Brian finds humor, even in describing his own tragic story with ALS. Since Carpe Diem Day started on this very premise – resilience in the face of ALS – I wanted to share his video here.

I bought Brian’s book, “Onward, Forward” and I’ve been following him on social media. He’s an incredible man.

Summary

It’s good to revisit our purpose and goals throughout life. In my case, blogging not just helps me stay accountable, but helps me remember previous conclusions!

The purpose of this Website isn’t to accumulate followers or page views.

It’s to remind myself what matters—and to share stories of people like Brian who embody love, resilience, courage, and living life fully.