In response to my 3 simple questions to simplify success article. Erika from the very thoughtful LifeBlazing wondered out-loud what my answers to these questions were. Hmmm. Good one. Here goes:

1. What do you do (that gives you joy, because why bother if it doesn’t bring you joy)?

First and foremost, I philosophize. It makes me feel wildly free and relatively useful. And that freedom is pure joy. Sometimes though, it makes me feel tangled, lost, and selfish.

In my early twenties, I did a meditation with Barbara Marx Hubbard. I saw two objects: a feather and a gold pen. And I heard very clearly (as if every cell of my being had it’s own set of bionic ears,) that my purpose was to evoke the truth. (Just this year I learned that a feather is the Egyptian symbol for truth.) I believe your life purpose is what you say it is, so I decided to take that mission and make it mine.

I philosophize via writing, and speaking–on stage, on TV, online. I aggregate different wisdom sources. I deliver my stuff with transparency, and I pendulum between urgency and a ‘whatever, all-in-good time’ pace. And while I’m philosophizing and pacing, the result is that other people’s truth tends to get piqued.

2. Who cares about what you do?

Meaning seekers and meaning makers. People who think. People who ache with that beautiful longing to live, really live. People who are interested in other people. People who contemplate and generate love (’cause love is a verb, and can’t “just” contemplate it.) People who are interested in the thrill of entrepreneurship, of generosity, of financial freedom. Chicks and holistic men who are interested in the deeply divine Feminine, and creative, crazy fulfillment. People who probably read The Artist’s Way, The Creative Habit, Good to Great, Alan Watts, Krishnamurti, Ken Wilber, Mary Oliver. They appreciate Oprah, pop culture, the I Ching. A few of them are design fanatics. They recycle, religiously.

3. How do you get to who cares?

TWO WAYS. One is purely energetic, the other is literal and promotional.

Method #1: I “get to people” by being as real as I can possibly be. Authenticity is magnetic, after all. I claim my place as a teacher. I maintain my role as a student. My most stirring and “popular” writing are the pieces that are the most self-revealing, provocative and/or poetic. I put myself at the center of the equation, but I still maintain a deep level of privacy and solitude for myself and the people in my life. (This is why I’m not a diarist.)

Method #2: I broadcast my stuff to the max. Every medium–print, TV, blogs, interviews, stationery, gigs–I am committed to rocking out in multi-media, far and wide.

Why? Because meaning seekers and meaning makers are everywhere.

With Love,