Mapping Your Worldview

My family recently went to see the movie, Puss in Boots the Last Wish. If you haven't heard of it yet, you should definitely check it out. It's entertaining and it presents a gem of a story. It has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes' audience score of 93%. (Click on the video snippet below to view the trailer.)

I don't want to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it yet, but let me reveal one intriguing aspect of the storyline.

The main character, Puss In Boots, is trying to find a particular item that he thinks is the only solution to his problem. To find this item he uses what he believes to be a simple map.

But, in fact, the map is magical. The terrain, locations, and challenges actually change based on who is holding the map and looking at it. As the various characters in the story grab the map and try to read it, the very land they are walking on is transformed. The things they fear and the things they revere spring up all around them.

This element of the movie is a good metaphor for finding one's purpose. The map that appears to Puss in Boots is a representation of his perspectives on life. The item he is searching for is impacted by this perspective; indeed, it's moved about by it. In a similar way, each of us possesses a worldview that influences how we see our purpose in life. In a sense, our worldview is the map and our life purpose is formed within it.

Consider for example, how a person's life purpose would be different in the following situations. Let's imagine that Bethra subscribes to a version of reincarnation that believes people reach enlightenment by incrementally doing more and more good until they finally break free from the loop of physical existence. On the other hand, Wilmer is an atheist. He doesn't believe in an afterlife and considers 75 years of existence about all most North Americans get. Bethra and Wilmer possess very different worldviews, and this typically leads to very different approaches to their understandings of their life purpose.

If this is true, then it's critical that we reflect upon and perhaps even map out our own worldview. By doing this, it will not only allow us to consider what's influencing our life purpose, it may also give us some hints about where to find it.

With this in mind, below is a chart I developed that you might want to explore in order to consider components of your worldview. If you click on the image you will be taken to a PDF where you can engage in a simple activity that will reveal what your worldview map looks like. I hope this activity will help you get a little closer to identifying your personal life purpose.

A simple worldview assessment chart. (click image to access an activity to reveal your own map.)

There are obviously many more statements and questions one could use to assess worldview. Many worldview quizzes are available on the Internet. One popular assessment is provided at the website Worldview Journeys. While I have concerns about how some of their assessment items are worded, and hence doubt the full accuracy of the results, their instrument is a good starting point for exploring contemporary worldviews and thinking about your own.

You can take their quiz and read your results by clicking on the image below.

In summary, this article provides three suggestions:

1. Reflect on your own view of the world. (Take an assessment if necessary.)

2. Think about how your worldview might influence your life purpose.

3. And most importantly, watch the movie, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

(Credits: Blue maps photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash; Puss In Boots holding a map photo from Los Angeles Times; Worldview chart created by Author; Discover Your Worldview image from https://wvtest.com/)