😇✌️ The Hidden Meaning In Purpose
How To Embrace The Wounded Healer Within
4.5 min read
Dash was only 5 years old when he overheard the doctor tell his mother he wouldn’t live past his twenties.
Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, the doctor’s life expectancy prediction seared deep into his young mind.
Headfuck
As a result, Dash struggled with meaning and purpose.
Naturally, nothing makes sense in the tick-tock of time within a limited life expectancy.
Brought up in the Mormon church, he deconstructed religion as a teenager and later fell into the void of nihilism, spending years in existential angst—feeling nothing.
No ups.
No downs.
Just emptiness.
The Turning Point
And yet today, Dash is one of the most positive and grateful people I know.
How?
He has created purpose and meaning in his life.
His purpose journey began at 28, lying on his therapist’s couch, deep in the void.
Dash began to seek a way out, leading him to profound philosophical realisations.
Using his life experiences, he brainstormed a philosophy to help others process difficult emotions.
Dash has been forced to live life on fast-forward.
He has endured unimaginable emotional pain and anguish, yet gained deeper connections, relationships, and philosophical insights.
He realised that he could not change his diagnosis only how he felt about his diagnosis.
Because the obstacle is the way — the problem is the solution.
The pain becomes the purpose, the suffering becomes the path to meaning.
So he designed and built The Catharsis Method to help others.
This became his “Before I Die” project.
The Catharsis Method
Dash is one of my long-term clients.
Building and creating a ‘project before I die” comes with huge pressure and perfectionism.
Perfectionism is a bitch.
It keeps us paralysed, but Dash has overcome all that to share his ideas with the world.
This is the power of a purpose greater than our fears!
He reverse-engineered the philosophy he used to create clarity and purpose for himself into the Catharsis Method, which he refers to as “Emotional Intelligence Solitaire.”
It's a card game designed to help people process emotions linearly, from pain to purpose, from confusion to clarity.
The Catharsis Method reached its Kickstarter funding goal in under 24 hours! 🎉 🥳
This is not a sponsored post.
I have no financial interest, and Dash hasn’t asked me to promote it.
I’m incredibly proud and inspired by his vulnerability, philosophical insights and humanity.
I’ve learned a lot from Dash — we all can!
Vulnerability
Dash embraced his vulnerability.
He overcame his fears of putting his philosophies into the world.
Embracing our wounded healer archetype is akin to becoming a true artist.
As Black Thought profoundly said, “A true artist can articulate pain and tragedy in a way that expresses what the beholder may have been feeling but was less able to articulate.”
To be a wounded healer is to be an artist — it’s to connect!
This is what Dash is doing with the Catharsis Method.
You can check out the fully funded Kickstarter campaign here.
We’re All Broken
"The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places,” — Ernest Hemingway
I love this quote.
We are all fucked up in one way or another. It’s the human experience.
In my view, the point of life isn't to avoid inevitable pain but to turn that pain into purpose.
We can’t rebuild until we’re broken.
We can’t succeed until we fail.
We can’t create purpose until we experience pain.
Life is a shitty stick at times —it can break us all.
But within the broken and fucked up places is the opportunity to use our pain to help others alleviate theirs.
Adversity holds transformative power; exploring challenges can become a source of strength and resilience, as it has for Dash.
If you feel broken, there’s no shame in that.
Just as Dash did, therein lies an opportunity to create meaning and purpose.
This newsletter only exists because I was broken.
I do what I do because losing my identity and being stuck spinning my wheels broke me. My purpose is to help others get unstuck and fulfil their creative potential.
Shame keeps us small.
"Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change,” — Brené Brown
If you feel shame then embrace your vulnerability as one can’t be shameful and vulnerable simultaneously.
This approach isn't merely about exposing one's shameful struggles and weaknesses; it's an invitation to help others feel seen and heard.
Do this and you will feel seen and heard in return.
Radical Acceptance
This is radical acceptance.
Radical acceptance is the foundation to build authentic, lasting connections with others through creative work.
By embracing vulnerability, we accelerate our healing with truth but also resonate deeply with the younger version of ourselves.
No matter where you are on your journey, people appreciate you more than you realise, and your perceived weaknesses are your hidden true strengths.
The obstacle is the way, the problem is the solution, and your pain can become your purpose.
Reflect: What would it look like for you to embrace your vulnerability?
How can you turn your pain into your purpose?
Thanks for reading. Peace out ✌️