Most of us are all too familiar with a "Freudian slip."  

No, it's not your mother's undergarment.  

A Freudian slip is a verbal or written gaffe that occurs when you inadvertently swap a word or phrase for another. A word or phrase that unintentionally--and often embarrassingly--discloses your subconscious thoughts. 

Years ago my father-in-law, for example, sent me a postcard from California's coast. The message on the back read, "Weather's here; wish you were beautiful." 

(But, come to think of it, he in all likelihood  

was fully conscious of his "scrambled" message.)

For several years I designed forms for a venerable legal forms client in California. If, on the left coast, you've ever purchased a lease agreement from a stationery store, completed an IRS W-9 form, or applied for an hourly wage position, you probably used a form from my portfolio.

Which leads me to tell you about a "Freudian typo."

Long after I created and published an employment application for the legal forms client, an end user discovered an error that had previously gone unnoticed for years. Under the section of the application labeled "Employment History"--in a box where the applicant was expected to explain the reason for leaving her previous employ--the form instead asked the applicant for her "Reason for Living"...  

My error betrayed the subconscious importance I attach to purpose: a compelling theme that gives a cohesive subtext to the story of our lives. So...    

Since discovering the typo, I've been curious if any introspective applicants for the clerk's position at your local grocer answered the question as written. Nevertheless...   

If you had to declare your "Reason for Living" within the confines of a box a half an inch high by four inches wide, what would it look like?