Raison D'etre, Adding a Brawny Punch to Life

 In an interview I heard recently on NPR about Syrian refugees to the U.S. learning English, the journalist concluded the program with this statement:  Learning English is the key to freedom.

In the current political crisis, I understand why she used the concept of freedom. Well, word friends, nothing is more powerful than freedom, and Power Word #14, raison d'etre is one of those superheroes of diction.  It offers its brawny punch to our writing and speaking as it underscores the things that give purpose to our lives.  What could be more compelling than unlocking and revealing what means the most to us?

Definition 
Raison d'etre:  reason for being; the reason for which a person or organization exists; the thing that is most important to someone or something


Origin 
From French
First known use:  1864

Use
Noun; plural form--raisons d'etre

Pronunciation
(rey zohn de truh)

Examples
1.  Taking care of the horses on her grandfather's farm seemed to be Jenny's raison d'etre, at least for the summer, which eventually led her to apply to veterinary school.
2.  The raison d'etre of the family was to provide a good education for their children, even at the sacrifice of their usual luxury vacations.
3.  The heated discussion between the two friends revealed the raison d'etre of their friendship, and they quickly patched things up.

When you look at the list below, the very fact that you recognize these names indicates little doubt about their raison d'etre.

Abraham Lincoln
Mother Teresa
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King
Nelson Mandela
Winston Churill
Bill Gates
Muhammed Ali
Mahatma Ganhi
Christopher Columbus
Charles Darvin
Elvis Presley
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Thomas Edison
Pope John Paul II
Rosa Parks
Superheroes of all sorts
Beethoven, and the list goes on.....

We ordinary human beings don't usually have just one particular interest--person, place, hobby, talent, that gives us our sole reason for living.  We have jobs, school, families, extracurricular activities and hobbies that consume our time and keep us devoted to maintaining order in our lives.  Occasionally, however, we do feel as though one special person is our everything.  Or our gratitude to a career that is especially enabling and productive leads us to believe, even momentarily, that this job is our raison d'etre, our purpose for continuing. It even may be the one thing that overshadows the bad and accentuates the good, solidifying that reason to go on living.  And perhaps it isn't the day job but the after hours activities--watching or engaging in sports, playing in an orchestra, enjoying friendships, traveling, that provide a raison d'etre and lend a different level of meaning to our lives.

Have you noticed that the added benefit to learning new words is thinking in greater depth about the application of the word to your own life?  The French call this something extra lagniappe. Another good word to make us more conscious beings.