Ana Olivia

Starting off 2026 with a very loaded theme: “The Meaning of Life”. There are so many writings on the overall and personal definition on this topic. I would like to share a shorter writing based on my immediate reaction to the prompt:

“Life’s greatest questions have always been: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?” This quote derives as the monologue for the In Love and Death album from The Used, one of the many bands that began my musical identity as a pre-teen. I began to really dive into answering these questions for this prompt, even more so after I saw them live in April of 2025, on their twenty-fifth year anniversary. The joy that tour gave me became the catalyst that created a snowball effect to discover what my purpose in this earthly realm meant.

I believe that we are privileged to journey through this human experience, and with that, come a plethora of moments that contribute to our own perception of what it all means. To find the meaning of life is not so cookie cutter, but it is how we respond, reflect, recollect, and the choices we make. This, in turn, helps us define what the meaning of life is to us. So… what is my purpose?

At my true core, I am empath, a giver, compassionate, a healer. I always try to find ways to help others when they share their woes. In various situations, my giving demeanor was met with manipulation, acrimony and betrayal. It took years for me to finally set boundaries to the people that took so much and gave me too little; years to cut off friendships, kinships, and the hardest was with an on/off again partner that had control of my livelihood. Even with the relationship fallouts, they scale nothing to the positive connections that I have through my community, my close friends I call “my tribe”, and the family I have found within them. I did not let the disappointments, being taken advantage of, and suffering from those I cut ties with make me a bitter, hostile, and resentful woman. If I ever did, it would not align with who I am.

Health has been my main priority over the last few years. I strive to make the best choices in food consumption, where I am listening to my body, reading ingredients, and growing my own produce during their peak seasons. I have accepted that it is okay to turn down invitations that involve solely on eating or drinking. As much as I dislike the word “restrict”, I have to do it for myself in order to not fall back into old patterns of giving in to the food noise that once consumed me. However, it is okay to treat myself with foods I enjoy in moderation; I can’t just deprive myself from them. I have established healthier habits that pull me back when I feel like I am derailing.

Stay with me, I promise there is a connection between the two…

Without my health, I cannot live the best version of myself and provide the best of my abilities to the community that I work with. I travel throughout various cities in my state, and have to be alert, fully rested and attentive to all my tasks. Mi comunidad that offered opportunities for me to grow as a young academic/artist during and after high school; whom came together during my time of processing my citizenship, where I was in limbo of returning to the U.S.A. that was my home or uplifting my entire life to a home country that I had little to no recollection of;to the community that never stopped fighting for and celebrating me. My purpose is to give back to the community that is primarily Spanish speaking with my contribution in medical field research; to promote health with social services that once seemed impossible.

This only answers one portion of my purpose in life that gives it meaning. This applies more to the connections I have with others and myself. I made a decision to recount this post next January and add more to define my vision for a meaningful life and to reconfirm my current perspective to the future one.