Sunday Musings: What is This "Meaning" We All so Relentlessly Pursue?

I'm not sure who originally posed the question "What is the meaning of life?" What I am sure of is that an awful lot of people ponder that question, on a regular basis.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama says:

"I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. ... Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace"

Regardless of what the meaning/purpose of life might be, there's little doubt that the process of looking for it has become a huge industry. Everybody's looking for "it."

And I am certainly exempting myself from this search.

As this holiday weekend draws to a close, I have been reflecting on the fact that in recent years I have grown less and less attached to the idea that my life actually does have any particular meaning.

The tricky part of the question is to actually establish what "meaning" looks like. What would give my life meaning? What would give your life meaning? Is meaning even a "thing" we can define by normal terms and metrics?

I'm not convinced that it is.

From a purely logical perspective, that leaves us looking for something we aren't even sure what looks like!

"Well, I'll know it when I come across it!" is a common response.

But will you, really?

Once again, I am not convinced.

When I look around me, I realize that many people's eternal quests for material wealth are basically their interpretation of a search for something that gives their lives meaning. Personal observation also tells me that people who have amassed huge material fortunes are not substantially more content than those who have not.

Not a lot of people know this about me, but I was raised among wealthy industrialists; elites for whom $10 million yachts and private jets were as natural as owning a bicycle might be for the rest of the world.

Even as an 18-19 year old, I noticed how the depression, addiction and suicide rates were abnormally high among those people. Maybe I'm missing something, but I am pretty sure that part of "meaning" involves remaining conscious and alive!

Some claim that meaning is found through accomplishment. I haven't found that to be true on a personal level, but I should hasten to add that I am generally not much of a "striver" with lots of ambition. I am most content just "sort of going with the flow."

Sitting here, a little into my 61st year on this planet, I increasingly lean towards the possibility that meaning perhaps can be found in simply making peace with the reality that our lives are largely meaning-LESS.

Somehow, that thought opens up a "space" in my mind, and inside that space is a measure of peace.

When I do find meaning, it tends to be fleeting and small. There's meaning in cooking an excellent dinner everyone enjoys. There's meaning in watching our garden bring a bountiful harvest. There's meaning in finding an unexpected treasure at the thrift store.

These things are hardly the meaning of life, but they are certainly the meaning of that moment.

And maybe that's the lesson: Life is not a contiguous thing, but a series of moments strung together, some of which are good, some are bad, some are meaningful, and some are meaningless.

Thanks for reading, and I hope your weekend was a good one!

How about YOU? What do YOU think the meaning of life is? Is it a "thing?" Or just a series of moments? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20201130 00:12 PST
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