On Sunday, September 7, 2025 at Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, I served as the assistant minister. Rev. Debbie McDonnell was speaking about purpose. Instead of finding a reading from another author, I was honored to read this excerpt from chapters 1 and 15 from my book in progress, Digital Souls. Subtitle: Spiritual Awakening and Healing from Loss in a Virtual World. This excerpt received many accolades from the congregants. You can see the near the beginning of the service by clicking here. Choose September 7. I would LOVE your feedback.
I loved whirling and soaring through ballet studios and across stages as a teenager, feeling the energy of dance ripple through me. I felt like I was flying. Lifted by something greater than myself. I couldn’t name that energy then, but I knew it was real. I longed to give my life to ballet.
But ballet wasn’t my purpose. Pink tights and tutus gave way to a deeper passion: making a difference in people’s lives as an educator. I never imagined one day I’d be called to ministry, or that I’d be among the first to teach meditation over the internet. And I certainly didn’t imagine I would be widowed at fifty.
The night my husband died, he was in the hospital for what seemed like a simple case of dehydration. He was only 54. That moment shattered everything I thought I knew about my life.
That night, through the pain, I heard a call to ministry. That newfound purpose has carried me ever since.
Looking back, I see that what first lifted me in the dance studio is the same presence that has guided me all along. An invisible thread of energy weaving love, purpose, loss, and even technology into a life I could never have imagined but somehow was always meant to follow. That same thread has carried me from ballet into the graceful flow of T’ai Chi Chih, a form of moving meditation I’ve been teaching for over thirty years.
What if the purpose of life is simply to be an expression of Spirit—of Love, Light, Joy, Creativity, Beauty? What if our true calling is to let ourselves be guided into whatever form best allows that Divinity to shine through us? The form may change—again and again—and again, but the essence of contributing to life never does. Our purpose doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. It doesn’t need to be measured by fame or recognition. It only asks for our authenticity.
As Richard Leider reminds us in The Power of Purpose, “Not every act has to save the world to be valuable and meaningful. Not every purpose has to connect to an exalted cause. Simple everyday actions, performed thoughtfully—with compassion and a sense of ‘little p’ purpose—can make for a life that truly matters.”
When we stop comparing ourselves to others and begin embracing our unique way of expressing Spirit, we discover that we are already enough. When we live authentically and root our lives in compassion, we open ourselves to something greater than any one of us. And together, in community with others—each living our own expression, rooted in compassion—we create a world… awakened… to love’s infinite possibilities.
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