I washed my hair this morning and it’s now evening… and guess what? Still wet. My hair. Not damp. Wet. Low porosity girlies, are we okay? Because my scalp is clean, my heart is full, but my strands are holding onto that water like it’s ancestral debt. Anyway, in between patting my head with a towel and regretting not stretching my wash day to Sunday, I found myself thinking about purpose. Again. That big, annoying, existential word.
People talk about purpose like it’s a specific GPS coordinate. Like you’re supposed to wake up one day, stumble upon it (preferably in your 20s), and then do that one thing for the rest of your life; effortlessly, exceptionally, beautifully. You know, like Michael Jordan with basketball, or Tiger Woods swinging like it’s the only language he’s ever known. Or Oprah, just talking and healing generations. (I really love Oprah. My secret now-not-so-secret wish is to meet her sometime next year. May the congregation shout ‘Ameeeeenn!’)
Perhaps some people have that kind of calling – that laser-sharp sense of ‘This is what I came here to do.’ But most of us? We’re fumbling, feeling, figuring it out…and I think that’s okay.
Liz Gilbert (the Eat, Pray, Love one) said something once that really stuck with me. She questioned this idea of purpose being one grand mission. She said maybe it’s not about that. Maybe it’s not about being the one who does the thing. Maybe that whole mindset puts too much pressure on us. The pressure to be known. The pressure to leave a legacy. The pressure to be exceptional. And the truth is, we’re 8 billion or so on this floating rock. Statistically speaking, you’re probably not the only one born to do the thing you do, and what a relief that is.
I could say that writing is my purpose, cos I really enjoy it, and I do it rather effortlessly, and a good number of people love reading my work and may refer to me as ‘The Njoki who writes a lot.’ And maybe, writing truly is my purpose. But I’ve also let my curiosity lead me, to designing lessons on sustainability, doing a bit of media work, painting when I’m overwhelmed, mentoring here and there, dreaming of teaching high school kids about Geography and how to survive being 16. I don’t always know why I’m drawn to certain things. I just let myself go there.

What if purpose is less about the one thing, and more about how we show up for the many things? What if it’s less about impact, and more about integrity?
So maybe the real question isn’t ‘What on earth am I here for?‘
Maybe it’s, ‘Am I living with honesty, softness, and curiosity?‘
Maybe we don’t need to ‘find’ purpose. Maybe we should just follow the thread of what lights us up, even if it leads us in ten different directions.
What have you always felt quietly curious about, even if it doesn’t ‘make sense’ or fit your current path?
What would it look like to explore that thing, not for achievement or recognition, but simply for joy?
You could use these questions as your journal prompts tonight. Answer yourself truthfully, and let’s see where curiosity leads us.
Do you feel like you’re here for just one thing? What is it? How did you find out? Please let us know in the comments section.
Thanks for being here, as always.
Be well.
Yours, with curiosity and wet hair,
Njoks.
















