My friend Chris Guillebeau embarked on a quest to travel to every country in the world by his 35th birthday. He completed the quest and wrote a book about how pursuing a quest can add purpose and meaning to our lives.
When Chris and I chatted about the intersection of questing and life design he inspired me to consider how a quest could add meaning and purpose to my life.
After our chat, I went through a three-month angsty period of searching for my quest.
I journaled to find it, meditated to find it, intended to find it, talked to others about finding it to no avail.
Then, I let it go.
Sometimes we need to let go of what we want in order to find what we need.
In November 2014, I began my life design process for 2015. I wrote about …
… the highlights from 2014
I wrote a love letter to someone and she read it everyday for the whole year. She told me it saved her life by reminding her she was loved.
… what skills I wanted to develop in 2015
I want to be a better writer.
… what I wanted to create in 2015
I want to create useful projects and beautiful experiences that help people love their lives
… what I wanted to add to the world
I want to add love to the world. Always.
A few days after going through my life design process I found out Canada Post was beginning to phase out door-to-door mail delivery.
The constellation of my life design thoughts and the Canada Post news got me thinking about how precious it is to receive hand-written letters in the mail.
My quest was revealed.
I want to add to the love in the world, improve my skills as a writer and {hopefully} be useful to others by sending hand-written love letters through the mail.
A soulful declaration.
And then, I remembered some of the lessons Chris shared in The Happiness of Pursuit. A meaningful quest will be challenging, have clear and measurable criteria and require effort.
I played with metrics.
I’ll write 10,000 love letters.
Crazy.
Could I really write and mail 10,000 love letters?
How much time would that take?
How much would it cost?
I ran the numbers.
I made the commitment.
I am devoted to adding love to the world by writing and mailing 10,000 love letters.
I’d love your help with my #10000loveletters quest.
Do you need a dose of love in your mailbox?
Great! Head over here.
Do you know someone who needs a dose of love in their mailbox?
Great! Send them over here.
Do you want to help me spread love by writing your own love letters?
Great! Use the #10000loveletters hashtag so I can find you.
Love your life.
Add to the love in the world.
Remember to check your mail.