Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener

[The Mystical Man]

Melville fulfilled his life purpose, and what did he get in return? Nothing.

[The Mystical Man]

 

[Matt23]

5 hours ago, The Mystical Man said:

Melville fulfilled his life purpose, and what did he get in return? Nothing.

Except maybe peace of mind and incredible joy.  ... worth a lot imo.  But I get your point too; tis a shame.

[The Mystical Man]

1 minute ago, Matt23 said:

Except maybe peace of mind and incredible joy.  ... worth a lot imo.

True. Fulfilling your life purpose is its own reward.

[Yarco]

If your life purpose requires fame and riches to make you fulfilled, then you probably need to re-evaluate.

Even artists like Van Gogh or Kurt Cobain who end up killing themselves, you might think they had regret for how they spent their life at the end. But more often than not it's just unrelated substance abuse or mental health issues because artists tend to be volatile people. It's clear they were passionate about their life purpose at their peak, and would've devoted themselves to it, with or without fame and fortune.

A life purpose isn't about what you get out of it. You literally can't do anything else.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Yarco

[Matt23]

20 hours ago, Yarco said:

Even artists like Van Gogh or Kurt Cobain who end up killing themselves, you might think they had regret for how they spent their life at the end. But more often than not it's just unrelated substance abuse or mental health issues because artists tend to be volatile people. It's clear they were passionate about their life purpose at their peak, and would've devoted themselves to it, with or without fame and fortune.

I dunno about this one.  

I think it's possible to have an authentic purpose you're addicted to or use to avoid other issues in your life.  And perhaps having an authentic and powerful life purpose or passion could actually make it easier to avoid other issues in your life, and then eventually it backfires on you and it all comes crumbling down when you realize "Shit.... I thought if I just did my life purpose everything else would be fine and I could avoid my issues.  But I now see the issues are still there and I've spent 20,30 years not dealing with them."  At which point hopelessness and despair may kick in.  

Look at Anthony Bourdain and the events that led up to his death (obviously not the whole picture, but some as stated by personal friends n such):  yes, history of drug addiction and mental health struggles - then, his girlfriend broke up with him/was with another man - this is where Anthony seemed to become more volatile - then he seemed to go headlong into his work, with one of his close friends saying he had a sort of creative re-naissance - then killed himself.  

I just don't think that it's wise, easy, or accurate to say substance abuse and mental health issues are "unrelated" to life purposes.  It's so complicated and inter-connected.  Sure, they had specific personalities that were more "volatile", but they also had a purpose that they could use to hide from their issues, and probably many, many other factors that contributed to their demise (like the type of social circle they kept as well).  

[The Mystical Man]