An Essay on Meaning

Some of the stuff from last week bled into this one and the Reflection on looking into the unconscious is drafted but not finalized. So here is another placeholder from the vault.

We live in an overwhelming world.

There is so much, yet so little of substance.

Everything strived for with the eyes is often smoke in the hands.

It seems futile to live out this hellish pool of suffering.

However, there is a chance that a meaningful life can make up for that suffering.

But what is meaningful enough to offset the cries of pain that echo the corners of this world?

I do not think that is a question you can answer lightly, nor should you.

Neither can I answer it with any measure of certainty.

In fact, who is to say there even is an answer?

Nevertheless, if there is an answer, it lies behind heaps of time, patience, and an undying hunger to find meaning despite the continuous heartbreak.

Meaning will only reveal itself to those who genuinely seek it out because it itself is genuine. It is the prize attained only by the focused runner who aims single-handedly at that which he believes to be true. Only he will find his meaning.

Moreover, the opposite is also true.

Utmost ambition towards something is blinding to the surroundings. At the finish line, a fixated runner might find that his meaning laid not in the completion but behind the scenery of the race. Many finish lines will vanish like an oasis, and many dreams, once attained, will dissolve into dust.

But the meaning lies out there, under that rock, and behind that tree, perhaps underwater or in the clouds.

Thus we must explore and run toward the meaning our beliefs lead us to encounter. Celebrating the truth found and not losing courage at the face of the abyss.

I do not know where meaning hides and whether or not it truly redeems the tragedy of existence, but perhaps the meaning lies in the rebellion against the pain that keeps us captive.

So, therefore, I say, search, gentlemen, that you may find yourselves set free by the responsibility under that rock, the person behind that tree, the knowledge underwater, and the tranquility in the clouds.

Before I let you go however understand that I do not mean that you will find meaning and purpose just walking around. You will have to dig and put in the work. In this sense meaning is just as much created as it is found. It all might seem futile, but you must learn to trust the process of purification.

The dirt must be shaved off to find the meaning. It will take time to get to the heart of whatever it is you are striving for. Soon, however, you will get to the center and find what you were looking for.

Meaning will not present itself as such. So learn to look deeper into what it could be and not what it currently is.

What starts as an acquaintance becomes a husband or wife but not without the work and though you found meaning in them it was not without the work that the both of you put in.

And though work might start as repetitive and meaningless it soon becomes an entity with the potential to help people with the product or service that you offer.

Gentlemen there is not point in demanding meaning out of life. It will often not give fruit and you lose all the life you had in the mean time. Just let yourself find it through your work.

So go out there and create until you have found something bigger than yourself.