Fulfillment

One of my very dear friends put up a quote on her Facebook about a woman's fulfillment being dependent between a man and a career.

It got me thinking about fulfillment. So what would constitute contentment? A person is spirit and body together. For any form of satisfaction of the human psyche the body demands its nourishment, but it is the pabulum for the soul that is crucial.

Mental stimulation is fundamental for meaningful existence, whether you are fond of intellectual pursuits or not. It maybe gossip or fashion at its very banal, or philosophy when you prefer it to be more intense. It may even be the cartoon you like to watch and laugh at. Or it may be the stars and the universe you like to study. In any articulation, the mind needs to speak; even more so for a woman's mind.

You may be the CEO of a very successful company and have an adoring husband who looks like George Clooney, but if none of your psychological faculties are being engaged, your life is empty.

Also of equal importance is emotional satisfaction. And it does not stop with the man in your life. The plethora of emotions a person has need to be exhibited and expressed - laughter, empathy, grief, joy- and not in one simple, standard form, but in varying degrees, encompassing an arc across the human consciousness. One relationship cannot satisfy this range. So we need friends and family, co-workers and neighbours.

I would not want my life to be defined in any way by anything external to me- not a career, not a man. My life is definitely, infinitely, more. My sense of being has a little to do with the people in my life, and little to do with my work- but only a little. I am identified by how I act, what I hold dear, and what I believe. My family is a big chunk of who I am, my writing is a big part me, my mediocre career has its portion too; but it is certainly not all that there is. I find it gratifying that my life is so much more than any one (or two) things. The resulting total of everything is a unique amalgam that is much more than the sum of the parts itself.

It may be the world around us that makes us. But it is after all, the world within us that defines us.