I was having a coffee with a dear mentor last year, and we got talking about purpose. In my facilitation work, it is imperative that a group fully aligns around a purpose if it is to achieve its goal. Sounds like common sense doesn’t it, but it’s amazing how many times this is missing from meetings and workshops, or worse still, there are hidden agendas or people just going through the motions.

Not being aligned around a purpose is like starting your cars to set off on a journey without knowing where you’re all going. Most likely you will get lost and it will not be a pleasant experience. At least if you’re heading in the same direction, with an agreed set of values to support you, you can enjoy some fun and chaos together along the way and are more likely to arrive at your destination.

I believe that purpose is just as important for an individual or a small group, such as an intimate relationship or a family. Mine is Freedom Through Connection, but we can have interim ones too. Last year, flailing around in my pain, I was as grounded as freshly blown bubbles, and on suggesting an interim purpose to my mentor, she countered with “How about just being present?”

The beauty of being fully present to yourself and other sentient beings (sentience being the capacity to feel, perceive or experience), is that it enables a more potent collective intelligence to emerge.

A year on from that coffee, and six months after the eight hour coffee date with a new man (see March blog), a seed has germinated. When talking about purpose with him recently, I suggested it could be something like “Getting to know each other better.” He responded with “Isn’t it just being present?” Of course. And now that the bulk of my pain has been excavated and released, I’m more able to commit to that.

So once again I am reminded of the importance of being connected, right here, right now. If that is all that comes from this new connection, that in itself is more than enough.