“Why is your logo a pair of a child’s hands?”
Hands serve as a symbol and a reminder of our uniqueness. At a macro-level, while we all might have the same physical anatomy, when you look closely at your palms and fingerprints, no two people’s hands share the same design. All of us the same, yet different.
The heart of Project Purpose honours that uniqueness and recognizes that it goes beyond the surface of our skin. It roots itself down to the very core of every individual. The same, but different.
The pursuit to discover what it means to be human is intrinsic to our inner philosophical meanderings on existence. While we have some generalized understanding of what pulls us together, it is not within the realm of science to discuss what sets us apart.
The differences between us that matter—which inform and challenge the norms that we tirelessly try to lord over one another—are felt rather than observed: the ‘meta’ in metaphysical. The human need to be seen has little to do with an acknowledgement of race, ethnicity, tribe, gender, height or hair colour… it has to do with essence. When I ask that you see me, I want you to look passed those things and see me. My “I.”
Articulating our essence without referencing physical attributes is a truer reflection of self-identification. Like the roadways in my hands, the ebb and flows within my fingertips, a map nature designed to serve as a reminder of my originality. My “who am I” is for me to discover and communicate to those around me:
“I am strong.”
“I am kind-hearted.”
“I am a dreamer.”
Self-discovery is a deeply personal journey. No two people follow the same path, even if they share similar experiences. Finding yourself is its own challenge without the noise of society telling you how you should see yourself.
Discovering who you are should feel like freedom, but instead wages a war within us. Trying to calibrate self to our society’s simplistic, binary, and ornery rules that classify and organize individuals for the sake of social efficiency, not social equality.
Social equality requires that every person be seen and accepted for who they are, how they are, and the qualities they bring. Trying to fit into a social classification, that fails to keep our uniqueness in mind, can be a heart wrenching experience. Does that mean that you don’t belong? No. You not only belong, you matter—it is for you to make your stamp and inform the society of which you are part, that you are here and you will decide and define how you will contribute.
Conforming means letting go of who you are and might become; allowing society to mould you for its own objectives. The more we allow ourselves to conform, to fool ourselves and the people in our communities that we are what we are not, the more we lose ourselves in the process. That loss is felt. The sense of grief that comes when you disconnect from who you know yourself to be is disruptive and painful. Not just for you but for those who love you.
We need to move back to authenticity. We need to organize ourselves in such a way where we never lose sight of our differences as individuals. As individuals, we need to recognize and value what sets us apart even in a room where superficially, it might seem as though we are all the same. Remember, we are the same, but different. Where it matters the most.
Project Purpose seeks to develop and support what makes each child unique, teaching them to protect their sense of self, and empower each child to feel pride and ownership in what sets them apart.
Welcome to our community.
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