significance, n.

Brit. /sᵻɡˈnɪfᵻk(ə)ns/, U.S. /sᵻɡˈnɪfᵻk(ə)ns/

The quality of being worthy of attention; importance, consequence.

(OED, significance)

Hi there, my name is Robin.  You might wonder why or how I've come to design a whole project to learn more about significance.  Well, as long as you're not a complete hermit, you may have noticed all the recent buzz about things like happiness and purpose in life.  You may have listened to podcasts by dudes like Jay Shetty (a former monk, now lifestyle guru), downloaded a meditation app like Calm or Headspace, or watched Julia Roberts find herself in the Eat, Pray, Love movie.  This buzz is about our eternal search for meaning, especially in light of our currently over-networked and over-worked lives.  

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The Significance Project is my effort to take this search a little further, or perhaps in a slightly different direction.  You see, I've recently experienced a big change.  A few months ago, my husband and I quite suddenly quit our jobs, sold everything, and moved our family across the country.  We didn't move for anything except for ourselves and a deep desire to truly start over.  Our intention was to re-purpose bits and pieces of our lives to build something brand new that aligns better with our beliefs, priorities, and ethos.  

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Here's the hitch: after four months of settling in to our new place, I still feel un-tethered.  Although I'm a middle-aged, highly educated woman, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.  I don't know what I enjoy doing or what interests me.  And, in addition to wanting my life to be happy, purposeful, and meaningful, I want it to matter; that is, I want to have a positive impact on myself, other people, and the world around me. 

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Just a small thing.  And I am clueless about where to begin.  Enter The Significance Project. 

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One of the bits of myself that I'm re-purposing at the moment is my identity as a researcher.  After over a decade in academia, I'm not sure that it was a good fit for me. But I do know that I love research and that I'm darn good at it.  In the effort to help myself, I have grabbed on to the notion of significance.  In research, significance is more than statistical; it refers to the importance, resonance, and impact of our activity.  In short, significance encompasses the reasons why we, and the things we do, matter.     

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