The Meaning of Life

Mitch Albom’s “The 5 People You Meet In Heaven” is a beautiful depiction of just how interconnected we really are in life.  “The 5 People You Meet In Heaven” depicts the reality of how one mans, seemingly insignificant life, has affected the people he has encountered, in ways he would never have imagined. If you have ever sat and thought about how your day to day actions effect the world around you, read this book.

Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie” is a story about what it means to really live and how life should be reflected upon death. A touching memoir in tribute to a truly insightful man.

Terry Eagelton’s “The Meaning of Life”, is a roller coaster ride of enlightenment. The premise of the book is really to dissect the language and theories behind the meaning of life question in hopes of gaining a clearer perspective of what the question is truly asking and in which ways it can be answered. Eagelton sites theories by Nietzsche, Hagel, Wittenstein, Schopenhauer, Kafka, and others regarding the social implications and true delineation of life’s meaning.  He engages the reader by sighting these contradictory theories in hopes that one will expand on their perception of life and begin to question their, perhaps slightly misguided, personal interpretation. Often among the citizens of our current society the answer to the meaning of life question is usually typified in one word; love, money, happiness, etcetera. This may seem a bit stifling considering the magnitude of the question. Really, the meaning of life can be summed up in one word! Well, where were all these brilliant civilian philosophers at the turn of the century when such questions were being scrutinized? We could have saved civilization a lot of precious time if it were only that simple.

If fact, Eagelton theorizes, that the meaning of life is a culmination of all the many attributes of the human condition, not just one. He also suggests that, “perhaps the meaning of life is not some goal to be pursued, or some chunk of truth to be dredged up, but something which is articulated in the act of living itself, or perhaps in a certain way of living”.  There in fact may not be a crystallized answer to the question but rather a method in which meaning is inspired. If the meaning of life is truly understood through the act of living; in what manner of living should we be striving for which would produce such meaning?

Many would suggest that life’s meaning is a personal, individual, pursuit. We are like sponges absorbing meaning from our experiences and from those experiences deriving a method in which we pursue more meaningful experiences; the culmination of which is a personal interpretation of a meaningful life. Could that be it? Could that be everything? I would venture to say No! It is naïve to think that we as humans are to interact amongst each other and gain only a personal meaning. While I can’t reconcile whether there is one solitary meaning which encompasses all human existence, I will say there must be a reason why we are such social creature and would suggest that our very being and meaning is derived from our interconnectivity.  Our need and social obligation toward interconnectivity must provide a larger piece or our life’s meaning. Like Eagalton, I believe that the key to life’s meaning does not lay in the culmination of our individual experience rather the effect that our individual experiences have on the world.

I received the phone call on Saturday as I was preparing my final project. I picked up the phone. It was my cousin Heather, crying. She said “Kate, it’s Pop. He is asking for everyone. You need to come now”. My Grandfather, the patriarch of my tight knit family, is dying. He requested an audience so he could speak his peace and say his goodbyes. His lucid days have become few and far between, so he felt while he was of right mind he wanted to settle his affairs. So this final project is in honor of my Grandfather and a reflection of insights he has bestowed upon me and the inspiration he has been in my life.

What makes life meaningful? I have said on many occasions that it is usually in those last moments that we reflect on our lives, the impact that we have had, the choices we have made, and the lives we have touched. Most of us want to leave this life knowing that we have made a difference, no matter how significant or how small. Some of you might have already had the foresight to reflect upon your life already. I believe that in order to make life as meaningful as possible it is your obligation to be in a state on constant reflection and in that state be open and willing to grasp every opportunity or lesson that is being displayed. While I know this is not an easy task to undertake, it is one worth the effort. As such I have provided a synopsis, if you will, on my theories. In hopes that just one of you will take what I have to say to heart and begin to live a life in which you find meaning; for as Socrates stated “an unexamined life is not worth living”.

I believe that every life can be represented as a web; one which provides the structure for our relationships and defines our interconnectivity. At the center of this web is each individual’s personal identity (morals, values, etc.). Every strand that resonates from the center is in some way connected to one’s self. The center must be strong and secure, confident and resilient. Every new experience, every tragedy, every joy, every heartache, every imaginable aspect of one’s life is represented by a small, almost iridescent, threadlike strand which at its core is connected to you. It is sometimes hard for one to fathom this concept. To recognize that every move you make, every breathe you take effects someone and something else, impacts the world in some way (like a chaos theory).