What’s My Motivation?

“I Found It”? I Never Felt a Need to Search for It.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

In the 1960s and 1970s, it was common for people to “go out and find themselves.” I never understood the need. “I’m right here. Why would I go trekking the Himalayas to ‘find myself’?” I loved to travel; I brought myself with me wherever I went.

And then, in the 1970s, we had cults on every corner. Dreamy-eyed, barefooted young people who had found paradise in homelessness danced around us on the sidewalks, sticking flower stems in our hair — an invasion of personal space we were expected to pay for. I began to see why some people might need to “find themselves,” as clearly, these folks were lost without a map or compass. I knew, even at 13 or 14, that I did not want to go anywhere they were leading.

And then, enlightenment in the form of bright yellow smiley faces and bumper stickers that proclaimed to all the world: “I FOUND IT!” Found what? I thought they were looking for themselves, but they found — oh! Suddenly all those empty leashes with “invisible dogs” made sense — they’d found the DOG! I liked my invisible dog just the way it was. Invisible poop, and all. And my pet rock. I did not need theirs.

But no, turns out, they’d “Found Jesus.” They’d “let Jesus Christ into their heart as their personal savior” and by asking what the bumper…