Every time I reflect on the word' purpose,' my mind drifts back to the earliest chapters of my life, when the world felt like a fairytale, brimming with endless possibility. That sense of wonder hasn’t left me, even though some of my oldest dreams have been shattered more than once. Still, I hold fast to this belief: a life without purpose is a life only half-lived.
Purpose isn’t some distant ideal. It should greet us in the morning like an alarm clock, echo in the meals we choose, shape the way we move through our days, guide our travel, and, most critically, influence what we choose to do for a living. This is not a decision to be made lightly. Our purpose should light up our eyes just by thinking about it.
Yet so often, we drift. We tell ourselves we’re simply making a detour when in truth, we’re acting out of doubt. We underestimate the consequences of abandoning our purpose. But when we stray too far from it, we risk compromising not just our present, but our entire future.
Many of us entered the legal profession because we shared a set of values. We believed in justice, in service, in making a difference. And for many, that belief translated into real action. We did serve. We upheld those ideals. But somewhere along the way, some began to believe that shortcuts were harmless—that compromising our values and vision wouldn’t carry a cost. That we could betray our purpose and remain intact.
A machine’s purpose, by contrast, is far simpler. It’s designed to function—to solve problems, to improve efficiency. It operates without conflict, without ego, without fear. No inner moral debates, no emotional storms. Just clear input, clear output. That clarity is its strength.
But I’ve never believed this is an either-or equation. I believe in the harmony between human and machine. One cannot truly thrive without the other. The machine’s purpose is not to replace ours—but to support it, to enhance it, to free us to live more fully into what truly matters.
The real question is: Why are so many of us resisting something that could dramatically improve the quality of our lives and deepen our ability to live our purpose?