People need meaning to their lives. Having a life deemed meaningless is a risk factor for depression, and for suicide. A life with meaning is important to your general welfare. It seems so for many. I hear people all day long who yearn for both. Some find reconciliation in religion or organizations to give their lives (and Life) meaning. Others go inward. The level of meaning doesn’t seem to be too important. I have patients with rather concrete goals, like “My life has meaning as I want to help raise my grandchild”. While is seems mawkish, this type of meaning is easier to achieve than an abstract/cosmic type.
I once attended ‘An Evening with Quentin Crisp”. At intermission he collected questions written on index cards and read them out loud in the 2nd act. I wrote “What is the Meaning of Life?”. When he got to my card, he read it out loud and said “Oh, this is an easy one! Life has no meaning.” and threw the card away.
Yes, Spo-fans, my life has meaning – plenty. I see Life with Meaning too. Some may call this delusional, but it helps. Yet and still, I sometimes wonder if it is whistling in the dark. “Life’s Meaning is what you make of it” sounds true, but it also sounds true this the same as Life has no Meaning.
As Mr. Eco says –
“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.”
Presently my life’s meaning is taking care of others: patients, Someone, and my family. Making the world a better place for me being here is the Meaning.
It seems enough.
Spo-Reflections 
19 comments
January 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Sean
I think the mistake is looking to other people and things to give our life meaning or tell us what our meaning is or should be. We need to discover our own intrinsic meaning in our lives and the world and it does not have to be validated by others. I believe, if you have provided any comfort or solace to one person, for just one moment, or aided in the alleviation or prevention of suffering for even one person, for one moment – if your presence has impacted anyone or anything in even smallest way for the good, your life has meaning. Whether it’s raising a child, caring for a loved on, giving a pet a home, helping out a neighbor in need, teaching someone something, advancing justice or standing for equality, speaking out against violence or hate, cleaning a road side or offering a coat to someone who’s cold, it only takes one, simple act of concern, generosity, care or generosity to give your life meaning, for if you had not been there, at that moment and time, it would never have happened. You being here, blogging, posing this question, causing us to think about our own life and meaning and purpose…you have done this because you were here. If for no other reason, that gives your life meaning. And I’m glad your here…
January 25, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Shawn
very true words here, Thank you Sean!
January 25, 2011 at 3:01 PM
Tai
34 years old, I still haven’t found the meaning of my life. Alas!
January 25, 2011 at 3:06 PM
D. Dave
Spo, do you visit “Case des Hommes” (http://case-des-hommes.blogspot.com/)? It’s definitely not workplace-safe, and it helps (but is not absolutely necessary?) if you can read French(!). On the topic of ‘taking care of family’, there are two wonderful clickable poster there on helping a son or daughter come out. I cannot think of how impossible it would have been for me to have come out when I was living under my parents’ roof eons ago.
January 29, 2011 at 2:36 PM
Urspo
I don’t know French, but I enjoy poking about this blog. The posters alone are worth the price or admission. Thank you! I am always glad to hear from you. M
January 25, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Frogdancer
It’s so cliched, but I don’t know how my life would be like without my kids. I know that I’m a vibrant, interesting and fully developed person in my own right, (heh heh), but those boys are everything to me.
January 25, 2011 at 3:25 PM
D@vid
Beautifully said, Sean.
January 25, 2011 at 4:22 PM
Shawn
Spo, Thank you for this post.
I could not agree with you or Sean more than I do as you both speak the truth.
January 25, 2011 at 5:01 PM
jefferyrn
A sense of purpose is not easy to come by. On a good day we have it and are at the top of our game. On a bad day we need others to help us find our way. It is not so much that we find means but that it finds us.
January 25, 2011 at 7:23 PM
A. Lewis
And that is why I love reading your work….because of the depth and complexity you add to this cheap internet world. We do need meaning. We need to GIVE meaning to ourselves and others.
January 25, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Ron
Spo, I agree with you 100%. Everyone’s life has meaning, whether they realize it or not. Some think the only meaning in life is having children and raising a family. While that is one of life’s meanings, there are many other reasons one has a life to live. Your sense of a meaning in life is helping other people is also important. I’ve often thought of writing a blog post about “What is the meaning of life?” but I didn’t know where to start. I could fill a whole book on that subject. Presently I am reading a book called “The Seat of the Soul” which answers a lot of questions for me. I know what my meaning in life is. It is to make the lives of others better for having known me by the example of the life I lead. I know that sounds self serving but I offer no apologies for my understanding of life. I only know I feel good and complete when I bring happiness to the lives of others. Whether it is by my demeanor, words, example, or more tangible help; this is my appointed goal in life. I’m not perfect and sometimes I fall short of my goals but I always strive to improve and lead a better life. And this I think is why we’re here on this planet in this physical form, to get it right. When we depart from our physical form and our soul is dispersed into the eons of time, perhaps we come back again in a higher life form to do even better. I don’t believe in man made religion but I do believe in karma and spirituality. Thank you for this timely post Spo. This was a subject that has been on my mind for some time.
January 26, 2011 at 12:08 AM
Laurent
My philosophy is that Life has no meaning but we give it meaning by our actions and interactions with others.
January 26, 2011 at 5:27 AM
Mark
My kids need me.
Enough said. m.
January 26, 2011 at 10:13 AM
Jay
You know what I like best about your postings? They make me think…sometimes I think so hard that my head hurts. I like that. I find that several blogs I hop around on are just nothing but fluff…like mine…but yours I find to be very deep and it makes me reflect on who I am as a person. While I have only seen a therapist one time, when I come to sporeflections, I feel like I have seen someone who is assisting me each and every visit. For that, I say thank you, Dr. Spo…you are a God send.
January 26, 2011 at 6:01 PM
Urspo
that is the nicest thing I have heard in a long while; I thank you very much.
January 26, 2011 at 11:20 AM
the cajun
Beautifully said, all. This may sound trite but whenever I hear “what is the meaning of my life” I think of Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. What would our small corners of the world be if we never existed. Somehow, even though we may not know it, we have made a difference and touched the lives of others. Sometimes in profound ways.
January 26, 2011 at 12:42 PM
Paul Brownsey
In trying to think about the meaning of life, one problem is that a lot of people want to elucidate it as the purpose one’s life has in some plan, some of scheme of things, outside oneself; a plan or scheme of things on a cosmic scale such that one might discover this plan or scheme and adjust one’s own activities to fit with it. This is implicit in all sorts of ordinary ways of thinking and talking. People *wonder* what is the meaning of life, when they don’t wonder about what it is they are actually bent on achieving; they say that this or that event was “meant to happen”; if they get dumped romantically they say that it “wasn’t meant to be” (meant by whom? the Great Matchmaker in the Sky?); and there’s the lovely and common Scottish maxim, “If it’s for you, it won’t go by you,” which implies that someone or something is planning things for you and will take steps to ensure they don’t pass you by. I suspect that it’s this sort of interpretation of the meaning of life that Quentin Crisp had in mind, and if he did – well, isn’t he right?
January 26, 2011 at 1:03 PM
Mike in MI
What if one’s life really has no meaning? The more I think on this, the more that I can’t find any meaning. It’s sad, really – even tragic, but the trudging through life daily makes me “life tired.” I had always hoped I would be gone by age 40 as that would be sufficient time on this big blue marble, but alas, I’ve reached 50 and still feel that 40 was plenty, really. I can’t make heads or tails of my existence.
January 26, 2011 at 6:00 PM
Urspo
I felt sad to read this; I hope you find some meaning, somewhere. Perhaps you can start with knowing there are people whose life is happier for you being part of it.