A year ago, I was in sunny Arizona. I remember January being a difficult time for me because I was so often contemplating my own identity and what my purpose was down at ASU. I felt like I had some sort of an existential crisis every other day.
Recently, it seems as though this identity has been once again called into question: Who is Maggie, and how can I be her, no matter where I am or who I’m with? When I look back on my college career, the times that are easily identifiable that I felt most fully alive were Spring 2018 (Semester in Rome), Fall 2018 (Semester back at UMary), Spring 2019 (Semester at ASU), and Summer 2019 (Intern at the Diocese of Sioux Falls). During these times, I felt I had passion and purpose for what I was doing at the time. I felt I was fully “Maggie.” Senior year has proven to be a challenge of figuring out how to continue to be me, fully alive, despite the sometimes- unenjoyable circumstances.
Who is Maggie? In flipping through my journal from Arizona, I was re-introduced to her, fully alive. Maggie identifies with St. Peter—a blubbering idiot who somehow remains a source of stability. Maggie is in love with the lay vocation and its important role in the Church when it comes to living a life of holiness with a secular character. Maggie is passionate about the UMary Rome & Mary College at ASU programs, recognizing that they are life-altering experiences that necessitate being drawn out of oneself in order to better encounter and love the Lord. Maggie receives so much joy from working for and being with people from the Diocese of Sioux Falls. Maggie loves to talk with people and write to share experiences.
Somehow my passions for all of these things must be translated into the life I’m living right now. The easy one is being a blubbering idiot—nailed it. But I’m re-discovering what it means to be a source of stability—maybe by providing comfort and intentionality for those who are still taking classes because I’m not. My love for the lay vocation can and should inspire me to strive for holiness right now, in everything that I do. I need to ask the Lord to reveal to me how my experiences in Rome, Arizona, and the Diocese of Sioux Falls are still relevant and bearing fruit now. I can use this writing medium and face-to-face communication as means of sharing experiences and hearing about those that others have had.
It’s easy to lose sight of who you are in the midst of circumstances that lend themselves to a loss of purpose and passion, so we need to remind ourselves of who we are in all circumstances. I should be able to be the same Maggie in Rome, Arizona, Sioux Falls, and Bismarck—a challenging feat, but a necessary one.
Who are you? How can you be that person in all places and circumstances? May the God who created and loves us instill in us a peace of knowing who we are in Him and a courage to be that person in all circumstances.