i don't feel like i have a purpose a large majority of the time because of my circumstances, but sometimes people will reach out to me, and i feel like my purpose is to hear them so they are less alone. i've been thinking about this a lot lately because there are people i connected with and listened to who abruptly i can no longer have contact with, and there is an indescribable hurt that goes with that, but i'm still not sorry i was here to listen to them at the time. i hope it helped a little. i hope there was some comfort there, even though paths had to diverge. i hope it's worth something. on the other hand, i've gotten the chance to speak to and hear from others, both longtime friends and new, seeking any succor that might exist, and that can't be anything but a blessing. that, to me, is chessed. maybe i don't know much, but what i do know is that offering loving-kindness is always the better way, and hearing someone who needs a sense of safety and understanding is never a mistake, it has significance. even if not for them, even if eventually they're not offering the same, it is significant for your own self, because you have created a bit of the good where before there was absence. and when it is reciprocal, you are igniting a small flame through the darkness together. one tiny light can kindle so many other lights. this is not a purpose that can be quantified or labeled or seen. still, it is a light.