For purpose, on purpose

Why

A catchcry of three year olds. Used in a genuinely curious, but fundamentally annoying way.

Purpose

A buzzword of millennials. Used in an aspirational, inspirational way.

For something that receives so much airtime, the definition that Google provides is decidedly dull:

purpose

noun

1. the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists

2. a person's sense of resolve or determination.

However, Mirriam-Webster is worse:

purpose

noun

1. something set up as an object or end to be attained

2. a subject under discussion or an action in course of execution

Regardless, this concept of purpose, living with direction, filling life with meaning, isn’t new. What is new to the conversation is that the purpose, the reason, the end to be attained is not some material possession or particular level of status in life. What we are discovering is the value of seeking something much more simple:

Good.

The purpose, is to create more Good.

Because the world could do with a little bit more of it.

And if we’re going to live with purpose, we should live on purpose. Creation requires change, change requires movement, movement requires force, force happens on purpose.

Live fo purpose, on purpose.

Alignment. Or: what the line meant.

Alignment is becoming a bit of a buzzword. Especially if you hang around young business-types or recent MBA grads.

I like to think of it as a-line-meant. Bring a bunch of things (points) onto a line, so that everything works the way you meant it to.

Did you know you need to have a least three things In order to bother aligning anything? If you only have two, there’s always a straight line connecting them both. They’re in alignment. So if you’r working on aligning two things, the first thing is to stop and figure out what the third thing is that you’re trying to align them with.

Trying to align the pieces of a property system is tricky. There seems to be so many moving parts of the system, let along determining the pieces that make up the goal or a more just, equitable society.

Or perhaps, we’re just making it complicated. At it’s most basic, we want every person to own and live in a stable, affordable, healthy, environmentally sustainable home.

Own a home: because ownership is more than property rights.

A home: Because nobody can be in two places at once.

Stable: Because mindset matters.

Healthy: Because.

Environmentally sustainable: If you don’t know why, you probably shouldn’t be reading this blog.

If it 'aint about the money then what's the point?

In order to be not-for-profit, but for-purpose, you need to have a purpose.

What's the purpose of property?

Using property as a means of accusing wealth, saving for retirement and providing a sense of financial stability and security isn't wrong. These are all good things. But are they the best things?

We can do better.

Here's some potential pieces of the property purpose puzzle. We might explore these over the coming days.

The Purpose of Property is:

1. To connect people to each other.
2. To connect people to the land.
3. To connect people to themselves.
4. To share wealth equitably.
5. To share space well.
6. To produce food.
7. To provide stability and security of accomodation.
8. To stabilise communities.
9. To support good physical health.
10. To do all of these things well.

Pinpointing purpose

We can wrap home ownership up in all sorts of things, some good, some great, some of dubious value, but when comes down to it:

What's the main purpose of a home?

Pinpoint that, stay true to it, and build from there.

If our purpose as people is connection, the home gives us a place to connect to the land, a base to connect from, and a space to connect with others.