Why

I think it’s a fair question to ask…

“Why praytell am I in China?”

I’m white, our cultures are practically opposite in every way, and even though my odds are slim I could have certainly found some job at home that would pay me more than this gig.

Now, please note that this was not my attitude at all coming into this, although these were all certainly arguments brought against me by fellow Americans in opposition to this adventure. The point has been made: there will always and forevermore be the question of 'why'. We are no different than a curious child who continues to pursue answers with the same question repeatedly, trying to take the given answer to the next level, at which some point the parent/babysitter/guardian must simply respond with “I don’t know”.

Well, the other day one of our instructors, Sally, said something. She said something drastic that changed the question of ‘why’ altogether. She said…

“We become fully alive when our passions and purpose intersect.”

I don’t know about you, but I would love to be fully alive. Who wants to live half dead? So now we take this question of ‘why why why’ and calm it down a bit. After awhile we need to realize that it is not going to take us anywhere unless other questions are asked as well. I am in China, and I’m not going away any time soon. I’m here in China to be fully alive with my passion and purpose.

…excuse me, what?

Passion & purpose. What are those?? Our focus question has been changed from ‘why’ to ‘what’. What is my passion? What is my purpose? Is music one of them? None of them? What about teaching? If teaching is one and music is none then I am about to embark upon the biggest scavenger hunt of my life. If music is one and teaching is none then… well, I’m screwed.

This upcoming year will surely be the quest to discovering what those two ‘p’ words are for me and my life. And just maybe you will be taking some time as well to discover what they mean for you. How many 56 year olds are living without either, caught in the norm of life? The answers surely are not written in the clouds, or buried in a hidden treasure chest {although what great fun that would be}. It is encoded somewhere deep within, unreadable until the right combination clicks and the lock is opened.