Look to the Horizon
The meaning of life
Mon, October 29, 2007 - 3:20 AM
This post is for you, good friend :-)
When we look at the phrase, "meaning of life" what do we see?
www.thefreedictionary.com/meaning
“3. An interpreted goal, intent, or end”
Ah hah, here is the trick. Where does that interpretation come from?
From you dear reader!
It is the act=of=interpretation that results in meaning.
When you interpret something, you create meaning.
The meaning of life is the creation of meaning.
Human beings are meaning creators. It’s what we do. We receive and filter sense data and form it into stories. We tell these stories to ourselves, we tell these stories to other people. The stories are often judged not so much on whether they are “true” or not, as to whether they are good stories.
What are the elements of a good story? Conflict. Resolution.
Pay careful attention to this pair of words: Conflict. Resolution.
Have a problem? Great. You are halfway there. Good job. Conflict!
But what about resolution? If you are not moving the story along, it is a boring story. It lacks meaning. In fact, the MEANING that stories that do not move the plot along convey is that there is NO MEANING. They are counter to the meaning of life, which is the creation of meaning. They are ANTI-LIFE.
So.
Let us say you are looking for the meaning of life: Conflict!
What is the answer you come up with ? Resolution!
This right here is the meaning of life. Mmmmmm, delicious fulfillment of the meaning of life!
If you are spending a lot of time sitting around doing nothing but trying to come up with the meaning of life, you are NOT creating meaning. You are not fulfilling the meaning of life. You by your lack of action are creating an interpretation of life that says that life is meaningless.
It’s OK not to come up with a meaning, but for God’s sake make the quest for the meaning an interesting story:
“I sat at my desk at work, at my desk at home, and at my desk at the bar for 5 years thinking about the meaning of life. But I haven’t figured it out yet.” AWFUL STORY. NO MEANING CREATED. ANTI-LIFE.
“I went to Tibet and climbed a mountain to go talk to a yogi….” GREAT STORY SO FAR. LIFE-AFFIRMING.
…AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? What did the Yogi say? What did you do after that?
The act of creation of meaning is the creation of action. Keep the story moving. What comes next?
GO FOR IT!
Mon, October 29, 2007 - 3:20 AM -
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10 Comments
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Unsu...
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Mon, October 29, 2007 - 3:45 AM
Bruce, you are truly fantastic.
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Tue, October 30, 2007 - 8:33 PM
amen!!!
I've been known to make major changes in my life fairly regularly. many of my friends will often comment..."aren't you afraid of making a mistake" or "what if you're not happy?" I've always felt that if I feel a strong urge to be doing something different, or to bring more meaning to my life, or to leave some unhappiness behind that it's well worth embracing the fear and doing it anyway. If that new adventure doesn't feel comfortable I can always try something else. For me, a decision doesn't have to be right or wrong...it is simply part of the journey....it IS living. |
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Thu, November 1, 2007 - 12:48 AM
Well said, Kat.
I was thinking after our brief chat on the phone about how if you didn't get your ass in gear and get moving that the universe would start making thing more uncomfortable where you were, until you were forced to move... and then I thought, maybe not! There is another alternative, perhaps. Maybe NOTHING happens and you just stay in the same place for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! Maybe you're in a great place, but for most of us, how satisfying would that be? |
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Fri, November 2, 2007 - 1:58 AM
interesting thought process Bruce.
:-) of course, there is another way to interpret the 'meaning of life' - instead of interpreting experience, you can interpret the sum of those experiences... for example, people look at that sentence and then come up with single concept answers: - procreation of the species - love - have a good time - achievement naturally this is also just an interpretation based on experience; I really don't see there being 'one' answer to this question [unless the answer to the question is: "there is not any one answer, it's personal and bound to the time you ask it" - in which case that is your only answer... ;-) great post! |
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Sat, November 17, 2007 - 5:52 PM
meaning...
my take, the fusion of talent and action makes for a life in which peace of mind can be cultivated, which is suggestive of an end to the meaning-making process... I changed focus from trying to come up with meaning (read also: quest, search, etc) to trying to cultivate peace of mind and its much preferable in my opinion, an acceptance of what is, surfing happiness and trauma.
Or 42, wasn't it? |
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Sun, November 18, 2007 - 4:17 PM
Great post Bruce. I try to live my life very much in that spirit: creating meaning by doing. And it is very satisfying, even though it is hard work.
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Mon, March 10, 2008 - 5:35 PM
Fulfilment...
Well, I guess internal conflict is conflict just the same. At this point in my life I am feeling restless again. I feel its time to get out of LA - to get to some countryside. To change jobs. The most pressing is the need to be closer to earth again. I am sick and tired of being surrounded by concrete city with asphalt. I'm sick of making housing so rediculously large that they can house an Indian family of 50 in one residence. I'm sick of being around people that have their own maids. Last night I actually had a nightmare that I was stuck cleaning the toilets for my boss (who has way more money than she knows what to do with) and a client that I'm currently working on their house for. They already have a 5,335 sq.ft. house and we are proposing adding another 3,000 s.f. Ugghhhh! There is no meaning of life in this pursuit. I do not want to spend the rest of my life helping the rich get even richer and spend money better!
Deep down inside I want a farm. I want a huge vegetable garden, a milking cow, some goats, and some kids with my fiancee. How I ever got into this business I've lost track of. SO, my search for meaning is so far proveing difficult - and goading me onto change. |
