---To Answer Your Question Dad
I've always liked to define things. Take things to their most simple and essential meanings and core. I've been thinking a lot about myself and what I "mean".
Part of that came from my dad asking:
"What do you want out of life?"
when I was a young teen. I couldn't understand what that question meant at the time. It felt profound, but obvious at the same time.
"Success." "Happiness." "Love."
He always said I didn't get the question and that maybe one day I would. I've thought about it a lot over the years, and I never had a different answer than the three I gave him back then. Now though, I think I understand. My answers weren't wrong, it was the wrong question.
Now I understand what he really meant was:
"What defines you and fulfills you?"
Not by any external factor, but what am I? What is my essence, what defines me?
"Curiosity."
I live to satisfy curiosity.
Satisfying curiosity is what I'd tell my dad today. It's what I am. Everything I see is full of lore, and only leads to questions. I have a deep need to understand the world and things around me. Even concepts that I fabricate in my head need to be questioned to define them.
After I realized this, my life has been made so clear. My original answers were---"Success." "Happiness." and "Love." Now I see that reaching success means finding a career that fulfills my curiosity. My happiness can only be achieved by constantly finding answers to the questions I so frequently ask. And Love will require me to find a person that leaves me endlessly curious.
What defines you? You can start with the template "I live to..."
---untitled_operator