What is a meaningful life? Would only nothing less than a life filled with countless adventures and exotic experiences be meaningful? This was my misconception.
A meaningful life, by my current reckoning, needs purposeful thought. Even the dullest circumstances, when lit by a thoughtful narrative, can produce a meaningful existence and a charming story. Consider instead a fascinating life devoid of description. The participant of this life is lured from moment to moment by a desire for higher emotion that is trained on the most captivating, brilliant, yet ever-changing circumstances, yet never once examines the moment. Is this meaningful? Fun, maybe, but hardly meaningful.
I've noticed that I had been living an un-meaningful life. Almost like chasing after a butterfly: exerting to finally nab the coveted prize but uncertain what to do with it afterwards and unable to remember the chase. Have I been pursuing these phantom butterflies for 30 years?
Things are different now. I am outwardly quieter but it can be rather intense on the inside. The implications surprise me daily. For one, watching television has become impossible for me: I cannot ascribe meaning to the content or I weary from trying when content is served too quickly.
2 comments:
I've heard it said that the difference between a goal and a purpose in life is that you can achieve a goal. A purpose is much bigger, something that no one could ever hope to declare finished, but that winds like a thread through every endeavor you've been proud of in your life.
Living with a sense of awareness is my definition of a meaningful life. Not only about myself, but about the people who are around me, the world that is around me. First, awareness, then I observe, then I reflect and finally, an outcome, which can be an action or non-action. Well... that's how I see it. ;p
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