What's the Meaning of Life?

A lot of people, famous, interesting people, have tried to answer this question.But to me, this question doesn't have value.  In fact, it rather seems silly that we think philosophers of any kind sit on rocks, contemplating existence, and saying the benign phrase, "What is the meaning of life?"


What is the meaning of life is like saying, "What is the meaning of chairs?  What is the meaning of spiders?  What is the meaning of ukelele bandits?"  In each case, clarification is required.  The question itself doesn't mean anything without clarification.   

A better question might be, "What is the meaning of my life?  What gives my life meaning?"

Because, as you know, we do not exist as 'everything' that's alive, but we do exist as ourselves. And we can talk about what it means to be alive, as us. 

So a good question, and one that I have been thinking about for a very long time, is, "What gives my life meaning?"

And I have thought about many people: friends, family, allies, enemies, peers, strangers--many people, who, day-to-day, make my life interesting and meaningful.  I think of the tasks, the chores, the objects (often that remind me of people or feelings) that give my life meaning.  The things I enjoy, the things I don't enjoy, etc. 

And these are all things that give my life meaning.  But this isn't the most important thing to me.

The most important thing in my life comes with another question: "What my purpose in life?".  What can I do in the world that will give my life sustainable, ultimate meaning outside of those things that I label pleasurable, unpleasurable, good/bad?  Who am I, what do I stand for, and what does that mean in terms of where my life is leading me?

I have thoughts about this, almost daily, and sometimes I wonder about this desire or that desire, but more than anything, I ask myself, "Where can I do good in the world, right now?  Where can I find goodness so that I feel I have a purpose in my life?"

Sometimes my purposefullness is simply about being a good friend, listening to someone in need, or doing my job well.  Sometimes it's about prayer, about writing, sometimes it's about being my own master of my own domain, life, etc.  Sometimes it's about questioning myself and the world around me.  Most days I feel like I'm a lot of people in one body.  I love to do a lot of different things, and those different things lead me in many different directions.

Maybe we will never be able to completely nail down the meaning in our own lives, especially in this internet age, of information that goes so fast that it cannot be digested before it is already old news.  But we can still solidify themes, ideas, moments in our lives that perhaps are driving us towards our purpose, whatever that might be.