The Lounge Philosopher

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Hello, my fellow Loungers!

“Why am I here?”

I want to say, with almost 100% certainty, that this question has passed through the minds of every soul on this planet at least once.

Not here, as in this room, this town, this moment.

Here.

On this earth. In this life.

Why did I get the specific body I’m in? Why do I have brown eyes, not blue? Why am I a specific height? Why have I been born into a specific race? Why am I on a different continent than someone else?

It is one of those questions that slips into ordinary moments. Folding laundry. Washing dishes. For me, it is usually when I am sitting in traffic or lying awake at 2 a.m., staring into the darkness while the rest of the world sleeps.

Why am I here?

This morning, I woke up with two words continuously circling through my mind.

Passion and Purpose.

Passion and Purpose.

Passion and Purpose.

Why these two specific words?

For years, I thought there had to be one magnificent answer. One purpose so obvious that I would recognise it immediately. One grand calling, waiting for me to stumble into it.

Instead, life handed me passions: little sparks that woke my heart. Writing. Creating. Singing. Helping. Feeling so very deeply.

I heard someone say the other day, “Stop chasing dreams. Start chasing your talents.” And I sat with that for a while.

Because dreams feel limitless. Dreams are the things we imagine. Talents, though? Talents are different. They are the things that already exist inside us. The things we do naturally, the things other people sometimes notice before we do.

But then I wondered… what if it isn’t one or the other? What if dreams are the destination and talents are simply the vehicle that gets us there?

And perhaps that is where I got it wrong. I have always had all these dreams, but until now, they were just that.

DREAMS.

Today I just realised…

Maybe passion isn’t separate from purpose at all.

I do think we need purpose. Something that makes us want to get out of bed every day. Maybe not in the grand, “change the world” kind of way people often talk about, but in the small things that give our lives meaning.

Because I don’t think we can be truly happy if we feel as though we are simply existing. Waking up, eating, sleeping and repeating the same day over and over without feeling that we matter somewhere.

For one person, purpose might be raising children. Maybe all she ever wanted was to be a mother. To kiss scraped knees, cheer at school concerts, make birthday cakes and become a safe place for small humans. And perhaps that isn’t “just” being a mom at all. Perhaps that is exactly why she is here. Her specific purpose.

For someone else, it may be writing. Teaching. Creating. Helping. Building something. Loving people well.

Maybe purpose isn’t measured by how many people you reach. Maybe it is measured by how deeply you touch the lives placed before you.

I also think we misunderstand the word “talent”. When people hear that word, many immediately think of creativity. Singing, writing, painting, acting. But I don’t think that’s necessarily true.

I, for one, have very little organisational skill. I can do it very well if I really have to, but it takes effort. A whole lot of effort. If I have to work with figures and numbers, I can do it, but I feel like I have to give 200% to get it perfect, while for someone else, it might come naturally.

Singing, for me, is different. Singing is like breathing. I don’t sit and calculate it. I don’t force it. It just happens.

And maybe that is the thing about talent. Maybe talent isn’t just about what you’re good at. Maybe it’s the things that feel so natural to you that you barely notice them because, to you, they don’t feel special at all.

But people like me also need people in our lives who can do the things we can’t. I need the organised person. I need the person who can see numbers and understand them immediately. I need the person whose mind naturally works in ways mine doesn’t.

And maybe that’s the point.

Maybe we were never meant to do everything ourselves. Maybe part of “purpose” isn’t just about discovering what we bring to the table, but also about recognising what others bring too.

Because if every person on earth sang, who would build? If everyone painted, who would teach? If everyone were organised, who would create?

Maybe we actually need each other far more than we realise.

And maybe that is also part of “passion and purpose”.

Connection.

Real connection.

Because somewhere along the way, I think we forgot that being in contact with people isn’t always the same as being close to them. We collect followers, likes, comments and little squares on screens, but many people have never felt more alone.

Social media, in my opinion, has created such a large gap between seeing people and truly knowing them. We can know what someone ate for breakfast, where they went on holiday and what filter they used on their photo, yet still have no idea who they really are.

And perhaps that is exactly why I wanted to write this today.

Because somewhere out there, someone has been told they are too much, not enough, too old, too late, too unrealistic or too different.

Someone stopped singing because another person laughed or told them to stay quiet. Someone stopped writing because another person criticised it. Someone stopped dreaming because another person convinced them that dreams belong to other people.

Don’t ever let another human being stop you from doing the things that make your heart and soul come alive.

Because the things you feel passionate about may very well be pointing you somewhere.

They may be showing you parts of yourself you haven’t yet discovered. They may be leading you towards people you haven’t met yet.

They may even be the pathway straight to your purpose.

Maybe we are here to love. To learn. To create. To heal. To leave pieces of ourselves in places we may never even realise.

Maybe the question “Why am I here?” was never meant to have just one answer.

And if you are sitting here reading this, feeling as though you still don’t know what your purpose is, perhaps purpose isn’t always something enormous waiting to be discovered.

Perhaps the real purpose is simply to love.

To love your children. To love people. To love deeply. To love what makes your soul come alive. To love the gifts and passions placed inside you enough to give them a chance.

Because sometimes love itself is the purpose.

Thank you for joining me in my lounge…

Much love

Suz