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.