Monday, January 16, 2012

In The Desperate Search For Meaning

This comic stems from this really awful conversation I had a few months ago. Someone asked me what is meaningful to me and I couldn't for the life of me come up with an answer. When you stop being able to find meaning in anything it's hard to find much of a point, either, and that's really no way to live. It's incredibly self destructive. So, this is me asking questions. This is me moving past that.

<3

6 comments:

Matt said...

I think the simplest test is, when you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you want to do? That's meaningful.

Jason Bradshaw said...

I like that. Simple :)

naam said...

Step it up a notch. Ask "What is the purpose of meaning?". Or conversely, what is the meaning of purpose. See the whole concept fold in on itself and leave you with joyous emptyness.

Props go to Dexter's sister Deedee, really.

I agree with the waking-up idea too.

tintorcio said...

Ahh. There's meaning in all of it. Every bit of it. But fulfillment... that can only be answered by you. I think we tend to get miserly when we don't achieve what we are pursuing. But it ain't the goal, its the journey. Its the pursuit of happiness that makes us happy, not the material gain (or failure thereof) Yeah, I think people put waaaaaay too much emphasis on winning. When the fact it if you're trying, you've already won.

great_o'rety said...

@Matt: and why would you want to do anything in a world without meaning?

The thing is people differ. I'm inclined to agree with the MBTI crowd and say there are distinctive patterns, but even without it we're shaped by our experiences which, being different, make us different. So there are really lots of people who find meaning in the mundane. It's just that, they don't see something's wrong. And is it?

Now the source of all the frustration rears its ugly head, doesn't it? This lack-of-meaning thing is so soul-shattering but it doesn't resonate well with...almost anybody?

Thank goodness we have the internet, so Jason can channel his feeling of WTF with the world and I can channel back in a form of at least this, a humble comment, a great sense of resonateness.

Smithee Zombie Hunter said...

Not alot of people have the desire to even ask themselves that kind of question. It takes courage to do so.