What is the meaning of my life?
This post is in response to Question of the Day
The question today is what is the meaning of your life. That’s close to the ultimate question everyone seems to be asking, what is the meaning of life, which is unanswerable. Luckily, this slight variation to that question is very answerable (and no, not with 42.) I will try to be concise and not prattle on about my morals, but it’s difficult since the concepts are tied together. The answer is really very simple:
I am.
My life is it’s own meaning. I need no further justification. All the good things in my life follow from that simple two word statement. Because I am, because I will, I create the world in which I want to live. Some of you reading this will not understand the depth of meaning in that simple concept, or perhaps you’ll even balk at it. That’s ok, I’ll try to explain further.
I love to understand. I live to experience life.
Life has a lot to offer. It’s got a lot of pleasure, a lot of pain, really it seems a mess at times. It is a very complex place, this universe we live in. It can be horribly confusing. From the moment we’re born we’re bombarded with inputs from our senses. I’m sure those first few years are nothing but a cacophony of sensation while we start to learn how to filter and interpret what we’re experiencing. But learn we do!
It’s a never ending process, learning how to deal with and understand our experiences. We are exposed to new ideas, and those like me integrate what we learn with our own understanding.
This web page has a bookmark/favourites icon. You can see it up in the location bar of your browser to the left of the URL. It’s a japanese kanji Ri (pronounced ree.) It is the root concept for reason, logic, order, justice. It is one of the most important concepts we humans have come up with yet, even though we often times don’t use, or even understand it. It’s one of my highest ideals. It’s not the core of my being; it’s my most important tool.
Reason is my absolute
It’s the only absolute we really have access to. It is from reason which we build our understanding of our lives. We have our senses to use to experience the world around us, but it is reason that lets us pull those inputs together to uncover–and create–meaning. Our values stem from reason, our morals, our purpose, even our emotions. Realizing this, and utilizing it is one of the most important breakthroughs a person can make.
Through understanding I can create, build, and produce.
Whether a man is to live alone, or as part of society, he must create. There is no escaping it. You are not fully alive if you are not producing value. It doesn’t have to be anything monumental, but all life creates. It doesn’t matter where you stand philosophically or politically, creation is required for continuance of life. Simple things like planting seed are acts of creation. We all do it. Sometimes I feel I’m addicted to it. I have a huge range of hobbies. I’m always trying to build or improve something.
I live to experience life.
Through reason I turn that experience into understanding.
From that understanding I create value.
It sounds a bit broad and vague because it is. I’m a photographer, a musician, a designer, a software developer, a gardener, a mechanic, and the list will just continue to grow. All of that stems from the above.
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