Does Life Have Meaning?
By the Writer
Amie
We often speak about finding meaning as though meaning is something waiting to be discovered.
Wrestling with the possibility that there isn’t any
From childhood, we’re encouraged to imagine that our lives should have purpose. We’re told to find our passion, build a career, make a difference and leave something behind. But why?
Questioning What makes a life meaningful in the first place
Maybe it’s achievement. Maybe it’s love. Or maybe it’s helping others. But if meaning comes from these things, it makes me wonder what happens when they aren’t there.
Reflect on the following questions posed:
If you lose your career, does your life become less meaningful?
If a relationship ends, does the meaning it once gave you vanish with it?
If nobody remembers you after you die, does that make your life any less significant?
Sitting with the discomfort
Existentialist philosophers have often wondered about this uncomfortable possibility: meaning isn't something the universe gives us, we must create it ourselves.
Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.
If there is no predetermined purpose, then we cannot simply wait for someone or something to tell us what our lives are supposed to mean. We have to choose. The responsibility is daunting.
Some prefer the idea that meaning already exists. If our purpose is predetermined, we don't have to question whether we're living correctly. We can simply follow the path placed in front of us.
Accepting the control
But maybe the absence of a predetermined meaning isn't a problem to solve. Maybe it’s an invitation. We get to choose.
Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen to you since the beginning of time.
Or has it?