Life's Meaning

Much thought has been dedicated to answering the question "What is the meaning of life?"

We can never fully answer this question, though this does not mean we should stop trying to, for life ultimately has meaning.  The drive to live, and to perpetuate life, is so powerful and so profound that life must be meaningful.

My sense of it is that life's meaning is rooted in its cyclic nature.  As seasons change and return again and again, so too is life constantly re-born and never vanquished.  If there is one truth evident again and again it is that every ending is but a new beginning.  Though we are mortal, if this truth is all encompassing, and I believe it is, our death is but a new beginning as well.  In my mind, the idea of metamorphosis helps understand this notion.  We are all catepillars upon the earth.  However, like a catepillar who cannot understand what it is like to be a butterfly and soar, so too can we not comprehend what awaits us beyond death's door.

Within this idea of the cyclic nature of life lies a further truth: everything is connected.  We are all one, but are often so focused on self that we lose our connection with other.  This is a survival mechanism.  We must learn to distinguish and protect our "selves" from the threats of this world.  However, we are evolving to a point where this alienation of our selves will fade and the connectivity of everything in this world, in this universe, will open to us.  In fact, neurotheologists have studied the brain activity of those who claim to experience transcendental spiritual experiences.  Their findings show that the area of the brain responsible for distinguishing self from other is inactive during these moments of transendence, meaning that those experiencing this state are not filtering their experiences through the usually dominant lens of selfness.  Once we fully understand and embrace our connectedness, much of the darkness on this world will vanish as the sun of our compassion rises.  More on this in a later blog.

For now, let's think about what makes our individual lives meaningful.  We all search for meaning in our own lives.  However, it is important to understand that meaning, on an individual level, is not found but created.  If we want lives of meaning, we must create them.  We must become the people we need to be to live lives of personal meaning.  If we value artistic expression, we should create and appreciate art.  If we love others, we should live lives of service and compassion.  Our actions create meaning in our lives.  Our lives mean whatever we create.  Creativity, in the sense of building meaning and connection within our lives, is our birthright as human beings.  Thus, be open to discovery, but also understand your responsibility to live a life of meaning and creativity.  

Risk

First of all, before I get into the nature and value of risk, let me be clear. That it is better to burnout than to fade away is an absolute lie. In fact, if the writer of this line burnt out before writing it, no one would have ever read or thought about living hard and dying young. It is far, far better to fade away.

However, life isn't the either or proposition that this line sets out. There are alternatives. Alternatives which add value and significance to your life by allowing you to contribute to the lives of others. And to discover these alternatives, you will need to embrace risk. Just don't be reckless with life. It is too valuable.

One of my favourite songs is "Dare You to Move" by Swithfoot:

Welcome to the fallout 
Welcome to resistance 
The tension is here 
The tension is here 
Between who you are and who you could be 
Between how it is and how it should be 
I dare you to move

Movement is risk. We can't take one single step without risking something. However, all risk must be measured against the consequences of staying still. If you do not move, if you do not grow, if you do not change, you risk far more than you do embracing change. For stagnation and decay are the consequences of refusing risk.
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We are all in the process of becoming. Even at a cellular level, we are constantly becoming today who we
will be tomorrow. And more important than any other factor, we become the risks we are willing to take.

Whether the risks we take lead to success or failure, the act of taking them - of having the courage to face
our fears, of moving beyond the horizons of our own shadows into undiscovered country - forges our lives more than any outcome achieved as a reward for or onsequence of taking a chance.

However, own your risks. Don't roll the dice, but play your cards. Luck is of less consequence than decision.
So decide what is important enough in your life that you are willing to risk losing for it (but also keep careful
track of what you are unwilling to lose and do not take risks that jeopardize what you value most).
You are the sum total of the risks you take in your life. I would not have become a writer, a teacher, a husband, or a father if I hadn't risked a great deal. I owe my life to the risks that have led me down the path
I am on now.

Though you may not know where your journey may lead
- though each step down the path is fraught with consequences known and unknown -
risk being alive; fully, completely alive!

I dare you to move.