A Portrait of a Man

I was always taught that one of the grand purposes of life was to make a conribution to a cause which seems truly important. Life, as I was told, was not about material possessions or immense popularity or anything like that. My father, my grandfather and a host of my relatives all lived by this essential guiding principle. I feel as if I were destined to do something interesting, something important. But, I lost my way and went through an epic journey of self-discovery that spanned the entire globe. I learned the beauty of the written word when I studied James Joyce in Limerick, Ireland. I learned to take life with a certain degree of immediacy in Jerusalem. I learned what paradise might look like on the Whistunday Islands of Australia. In short, my travels taught me everything.
I worked in Chicago this past summer and one idle sunday, I went to the city's Art Museum. I met a dossier who told me that every day, she saw a multitude of people come in and out of the museum who were button pushers as the women called them. She said these people might be identified by their actions, temprament and focus which were all geared toward making it through that specific day. Although her words were said in an off-hand manner so as not to arouse true meaning, the words sunk in nonethless in a magnificent way. Suddenly it all seemed pretty clear. The answer was to lead live with a purpose. My mother attends the church of noted Pastor Rick Warren, who wrote the Book, The Purpose Driven Life. My mom lent me a copy and even though I am not Christian, the principles imbedded in the book made a great deal of sense to me.
The only person that I believe the answers can come from is oneself. Every decision a person makes must come through acquied knowledge and a certain knack for knowing what is wrong and what is just. Studying creative writing, as I have done throughout college, has provided me with the neccessary tools to go about life in an impactufl manner. I can write exactly what I want to say and effectively communicate my visions through my writing. In short, I owe everything that principle that people are suppoused to contribute all they can to making the world a better place.