“What is the meaning of life”,
Submitted by janis b on Mon, 04/20/2020 - 11:49pm
seems to me as it’s always been, a fundamental question that involves constant consideration in our daily mundane lives, as well as our more ethereal ones. I’m thinking at the moment that the answers may be more simple than they were before, and may be unnecessary to define, because life gets in the way.
[video:https://youtu.be/kuR5OhK5B_U]
[video:https://youtu.be/B47e47mqOlA]
Stay strong all.
Comments
I take the time
to smell the flower and watch the bee.
So simple to some. So mundane to many.
Humanity has made the extraordinary ordinary.
All hail the wanderlust as they move awkwardly into the unknown.
Always forward. Never straight.
Thanks janis.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Thank you Pricknick, and nothing ordinary about that ...
“All hail the wanderlust as they move awkwardly into the unknown.
Always forward. Never straight. “
[video:https://youtu.be/FGZYWSfiYbM]
The closest thing I've found
to describe a complete description of life's meaning is when I look up into the stars and see harmony. It is a fleeting observation that all is perfectly aligned. A bit difficult to explain, but the universe appears to be in tune for these brief moments. It feels right and leaves one with a deep understanding.
Cheers Janis!
question everything
That’s as close a description QMS, as I can imagine.
I imagine that your life on earth and on ocean, in combination with what lies in between the two gives you a special perspective, which I appreciate deeply.
Here ya go
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L95P3119QrA]
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That’s a lively answer, otc!
I am playing a bit of piano music I
talked my mom into buying for me. Like, when I was maybe 12. Jimmy Webb.
I had forgotten he composed MacArthur Park, Wichita Line Man.
I loved Webb for "We almost Made It" because that was the song of my failed expectations.
Give me time, reset life, and my expectations for what is happening is way, WAY beyond the goal.
Bad times, scary times, starving times, and I go out with love.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Beautiful piano
[video:https://youtu.be/vnAglbbQ5uI]
Keep playing otc.
Janis, thanks for that! What a talented guy,
n/t
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hi janis, the meaning of life is
to put a seed in the soil and be happy to see something growing from the seed and enjoy, see and share that what nature gives you for free.
Life is getting in the way... thank God, that nature will fix that.
Be well, stay healthy, fight on with love.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Ah, nature ...
Love and a kiss to you.
To me,
the meaning of life is learning the lessons we came to learn so that we do not have to repeat them in the next incarnation. Live in love.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I know you see it similarly ...
A part of me thinks that we have the opportunity for incarnation with each experience we have and in each relationship we share. All it takes is love.
I love the answers here,
To me, there is no meaning to life except to be alive. What meaning it may have, is what we give it ourselves. Set a goal. Strive towards it. Enjoy what you can on the journey. It's a simple as that. There is no entity *out there* giving meaning to it.
Hard times (such as the ones we find ourselves in currently) provide real opportunities to define who we are as people--and therefore, what our individual lives mean to ourselves and to others. Are you helping others? Maybe by providing something to others in need? Or being creative and thinking up ways of helping others that other people can implement? Or providing inspiration or organization for people? Or simply getting factual news out to people? Or being brave?
Yesterday, I saw in the news where nurses and doctors were standing in front of the cars of protestors who were protesting against shelter-in-place laws. That was brave and impressive as hell! They were essentially saying to people who cared only about themselves and their freedums, who were perfectly willing to endanger the lives of others--"Feel free to run me over--the person who would likely save you if you got really sick, and the person who saves others every day. See how meaningless your life is by doing what you are doing?!?"
We each make our own meanings. That's the short of it. The Earth is such an infinitesimal speck in this vast universe, the only way we can truly derive meaning from our lives is to do something bold, dramatic, good, or creative. Even if in small ways that affect only one other person. Even if it's just being there to listen to others and guide them in a better direction. Or even if it's just coming together with others to get something bigger done.
Well stated my friend
seeing thru other's eyes
question everything
may be that's something nobody really can /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
Yes, this
I too have enjoyed the essay and responses. This is my own conclusion as well, after spending 50 something years looking for an answer. I did go through a phase when I’d always say “42” whenever this question would come up. Because that answer comes from one of my favorite stories of all time.
There is one common thread to all of this. For human beings, the meaning of our lives is the story we tell as we live it. We are all the star of our own screenplay, and we live our story, and we tell it constantly, to ourselves and to each other. Another funny sci fi author gave me another quote to deftly capture this.
Thank you CS in AZ
I especially enjoyed considering this comment of yours - “For human beings, the meaning of our lives is the story we tell as we live it.”
Thankfully we have authors who have a gift for telling their stories, and nudging us to find our own. Mindfully writing them in the present, as you imply, is something we can all achieve.
I think you have to give your life meaning
We are a blank page that fills with experience and relationships as time passes. The choices we make determine what our lives look like.
RA's comment about learning also is relevant...and I think all our lives are enhanced when we are kind. Time is the currency of life. Spend it wisely.
Monty Python has a very funny film, The Meaning of Life, filled with several memorable skits.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout
I will look for that Monty Python later, as the day winds down.
you're all brilliant!
this is why I feel so comfortable at C99. Kindred spirits.
Totally agree, Shah
Isn’t it amazing to find somewhere that resonates with a sense of belonging.
Thank you, janis, for the Hopkins and
inspiring this good thread. Agree with so many sentiments expressed, lessons to be learned, life to live, making peace and being kind.
Undoubtedly this virus will eventually touch every human on earth, perhaps, we can learn to better see each other and communicate through its challenges.
Hi smiley
I believe it’s already started, thanks to all of us here. Thank you.
To me, it means to leave a mark.
Who wants to exist without being remembered for something positive?
There are monuments carved on mountains to memorable men, statues of women who were saintly.
But there are also the people near you that do not want to put you on that kind of pedestal. They just want to talk smack at your memorial service, or tell a story about your gesture of kindness to your friend or loved one years later.
20 years after my husband passed away, one of out friends asked me if he could have a picture of him. I found a great one for my buddy. "Aw, Sis, thank you! Thank you!"
That is the true meaning of his life, and that certainly works for me.
My handyman and his son have lived on $50 for 3 weeks.
He mowed a couple of acres in my pasture, I paid him $125. They blurted out, "Aw, Sis! Thank you! Thank you!"
I believe those sort of gestures make life make sense. Not the moon and stars, not the sounds of the lion's mighty roar, or the bronze statue or the mountain carving.
It is making a difference where you can, one gesture of kindness at a time.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Something to consider before our memorials ; )
“It is making a difference where you can, one gesture of kindness at a time.”
Late again, maybe that's the meaning right there.
Is
Also
that
that which is that
that which is that such that it is that
tathegata
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Whatever, el ; )
Here's a different answer
https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/04/20/triplets-on-the-tower-for-berkekley...
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
250 miles per hour, wow!
Thank you for that.
small gestures
make peace
question everything
1) Evolve spiritually.
2) Remove Trump.
It won’t look pretty,
but I was thinking about putting bubble wrap around the partially formed flower buds of my 1-2 year old Plumeria/Frangipani plant in order to encourage it to open as the days grow weaker and shorter, cooler and rainier. The thought that one may open before it’s too late, is something I look forward to. That, and chatting with my daughter later, makes me feel content for now. Reading your thoughts and perceptions also tangibly contribute to a sense of connectedness and meaning.
The beauty is that what we are doing here really does contribute to growth and wellbeing, which has meaning. Thank you everyone.