A Sense of Purpose
How our Menstrual Cycles can Help us to Find a Sense of Purpose in Life + online course news
I’m in the midst of creating a short online course/study group, on A Sense of Purpose (discover more in the footer). And, as I do so, I find myself reflecting on what our menstrual cycles can teach us about Purpose (even though this is not a current part of the course). This reflection carries me to a deep internal landscape - back to earth, to the soil of my humanity. To an aspect of nature, a woman turning in cycles within the cycles of nature. My purpose is to be this aspect of nature. This animal with acute awareness - a moving mass of energy formed in the shape of me. I find purpose in my place as an animal, as a member of the human species, I find my purpose in place on this incredibly dynamic Planet Earth - roaming the land in exploration, in the adventure of living.
My senses bring me back to this simple sense of purpose - me - a piece and part of nature - living and breathing with my inner seasons and cycles held within the inner seasons and cycles of nature, held within the cycles of the universe. I am held here - grounded in and with my body - held by a mysterious force - in this place.
Purpose has many more layers than this, in terms of how we live our lives day to day, however, honing in on a sense of Purpose through the lens of having a menstrual cycle - can help us to access the deeper roots of being, of purpose. It takes us out of our heads and overcomplicated thought processes, and into the soil of the soul - the simplicity and contentedness of who and what we are in this present moment.
Allowing Purpose to Arise Naturally
On a more practical level, ovulation time is when I feel very connected to the world, to my direction, inspiration and sense of purpose. It’s a time, similar to menstruation, when I can access deep insight. It just arrives in a slightly different way during ovulation and comes with a real sense of power and strength to actualise the insights gained from the vision quest of menstruation, and the fresh directional purpose that has emerged in inner spring. Inner summer is the time to ‘bring into being’.
In terms of Purpose then, we can experience the ebbs and flows of how we live it, through the different phases of our cycles. To ‘optimise’ each phase is to realise that we don’t need to (and quite frankly shouldn’t) always be ON Purpose (although one could argue that simply being alive means we are always ON Purpose). Because in the fallow void of menstruation, through the emergent journey of spring, we can discover that a sense of Purpose arises, naturally.
with love,
Jane x
Are you interested to explore A Sense of Purpose within a small group? Sign up to be notified of when this 4-week group course opens (in May, beginning in June) via my Rhythmic Inspiration newsletter over at www.janecormack.com. Together, we explore The Meaning of Purpose, The Things that Shape You, What Matters and The Roots of Your Service.