What is aliveness?

Wellness, self-awareness, consciousness, emotional intelligence, happiness, purpose, and mindfulness are just a few of many terms that appear in abundance around people like me who care deeply about personal growth to improve our quality of life. 

But what about aliveness?  What is it?  What does it mean?

I’ve been blessed to work for a company that has chosen to invest in answering questions like these, not because we’re planning on profiting from this information, but because we want to unlock the aliveness that exists in each of us.  7.6 billion people!  Tuthill Corporation, a privately-owned manufacturer that’s been around since 1892.  Our purpose is to Wake the World.

Since March of 2018, my team and I have been traveling the world to create a documentary series about aliveness. We are asking people from different races, cultures, socioeconomic classes, academic levels, and lifestyles what they do to feel alive.  So far, we’ve been to Mexico, Africa, and all over the U.S.A.  Our hope is to craft a recipe for aliveness.

A Recipe for Aliveness

The Search for Aliveness blends perspectives from thought leaders and regular people who are willing to share the things that make them feel alive.

Our theory is that aliveness includes many of the terms listed at the beginning of this article.  It’s an all-inclusive way of thinking about how to create the life you want to live.  When we set out to explore aliveness, we wanted to test our hypothesis that people feel most alive when a healthy blend of the following categories are present in their lives:

• Purpose – Why are you here?
• Connection – How well do you connect with others, spiritually, with nature?
• Energy – Are you fueling yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually?
• Present & engaged – Are you able to live in the moment and act rather than worry about the past and the future and feeling stuck?
• The full range of human emotion:  Sad, Angry, Scared, Happy, Excited, Tender (S.A.S.H.E.T.) – Do you appreciate each of these emotions and express them in a healthy manner?

These are big questions, but we started with a question we thought was easier to answer. 

What do you do to feel alive? 

What are the actionable, repeatable, teachable, shareable things you do to feel alive? 

Who do you do them with? 

Where do you do them? 

Do you do these on purpose? 

Do you make time to do as much of these things as possible in your life? 

From there, we dug deeper to learn more and to see where they led us through interviews and shared experiences.  We found most of the responses we heard do, in fact, fit into one of the categories above.  However, there were some themes that emerged through our travels that may not fit into but supersede some of these. 

3 Important Ingredients In Your Recipe for Aliveness

You’ll have to watch the series to see all of the ingredients in our recipe we’ve highlighted in The Search for Aliveness, but I’m happy to share a few themes with you right here on Purpose Fairy.

1. Nature

Whether it’s the magnificence of the mountains, the forest, the ocean or the peace and quiet the great outdoors offers, nature has been an ingredient for aliveness to just about every person we’ve interviewed.  Do you feel alive when you are experiencing the beauty of nature?

2. Creativity

Making things with our hands, singing with our voices, playing instruments, or simply solving problems are all things that spark creativity in each of us.  There’s something deeply rewarding about being a creator. 

What do you create?

How does it make you feel?

3. Serving Others

It might stem from a religious belief, a cultural philosophy, or simply the way you were raised, helping others is one of the fastest “short-cuts” to aliveness.  It is fulfilling, brings you closer to others, has a positive impact, and has us feeling happy, excited, and tender in the moment.  When was the last time you helped someone else?  What would going the extra mile to do it again look like? 

There are many more specific ingredients in our evolving aliveness recipe.  Share what you do to feel alive in our online recipe book.  Keep an eye out for an online tool we’re releasing to help you assess your current aliveness with suggestions for how to unlock even more.

This is a project that is worth sharing.  We’re all curious and want to know how to get the most out of life, but life is crazy busy, and we’re surrounded by distractions and negativity.  Take some time to watch The Search for Aliveness and to tell everyone you can about it. 

Help us change the conversation around the dinner table from “how was your day” to “what did you do that made you feel alive today”? 

Help us encourage a stronger pursuit of purpose, connection, energy, being present and engaged, and emotional appreciation. 

We’ll need all the help we can get to reach 7.6 billion people.

Comments