“I can’t see a f!@#% thing!” I said to my college girlfriend as we drove through a blizzard, making our way south down Interstate 57 from Chicago to Champaign, Illinois, where we were both in school.
In the winter, a drive down 57 is a rite of passage for Midwestern drivers. On a clear winter day, it’s merely flat and gusty, requiring a firm grip at 2 and 10 to withstand the wind’s forceful invitations across the black ice and into the ditch. But in a blizzard, the wind’s chaotic twin – blowing snow – arrives, turning the road into a patchwork of black ice and mounds of snow and your field of vision into a void of endless whiteness. However, the conditions of a prairie blizzard are not just perilous for driving.
Going back to the 1700’s, Midwesterner farmers lost countless loved ones on their way to barns and outhouses only to find them in the Spring just a couple hundred yards away. So they implemented a simple solution: a rope. As soon as the blizzard would set in, they’d tie a rope between the house, barn and outhouse, and this ensured that their loved ones would be guided safely home.
It can be said that as a species, we are in such blizzard, caught in the chaotic upheaval of a world gone mad. However, times of chaos are also fertile soil for the revelation of our highest and most sacred purpose. These times call us to tie a rope to what is good, true and beautiful in ourselves and the world.
This world presents an overwhelming picture of the best and worst of humanity. We see inspiring advances in social and environmental progress, rekindling ancient ways for authentic living and community, new technologies for a sustainable economy and breathtaking new art, political and cultural movements, against the cacophonous decline of our once trusted institutions – democracy, capitalism, education, healthcare and religion.
In this blizzard, we are invited to tie a rope or face, not just fear, uncertainty and despair, but grave danger in our lives, careers, society and ecology. We are called to awaken and embody our higher purpose, to tie a rope between where we are now and the lives, careers and society we must now create.
In my book, Planet on Purpose (which launches March 27th!), I lay out a path to awaken your higher purpose, to unleash the sacred gifts within you and meet the roar of humanity’s deepest longing. Your higher purpose is distinct from a simple declaration or hard work or even your passions, but a deafening call into a life you love, into full joyful engagement in your career, love life, family and community.
In my book, I present the overwhelming evidence from leading institutions, such as Harvard and Stanford, that says that your higher purpose is not just the key to a life and career that enlivens you, marked by higher levels of income, wealth, abundance (+47%), fulfillment (+64%), engagement (4x), productivity (5x), longevity (+7 years), attraction and love (+31%), but a world that actually works for all beings. In the book, you’ll move through a proven path to awaken your higher purpose and bring it into every area of your life, and finally into a vision for humanity when we are all expressing our higher purpose in our politics, economy, culture and environment.
If you are seeking that clarity for yourself and our planet, I invite you to pick up a copy today and begin your hero’s journey. Humanity is aching for your higher purpose, and collectively, when we bring forth our greatest gifts and tie a rope to a more just, sacred, prosperous, connected, sustainable world, we will understand what it means to be fully human.
Soulfully, wildly,
Brandon Peele
Author, Planet on Purpose
