Finding
Meaning
“There
is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we
each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, a
book for each person.”
Anais Nin
(The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 1, 1931-1934)
Do you have the tendency,
as I do, to try to find meaning in life—in the things that happen
to you, and to others? It seems for some people, finding meaning is
essential, but others don't need it so much. They find life and
circumstances to be random and meaningless other than by their own
definition. I can see both sides of this debate. When I see
destruction like what just happened in the Bahamas, the untold damage
and suffering, I want somehow or other, to identify something good that
may come out of it. But when I stand back and separate myself from
those feelings, I can be more analytical. These things do happen;
they are random, they are driven by the winds, and the tides, and air
currents and not by some cosmic design. They are not meant to punish,
or to prove a point, and God is not in the mix, nor was it the hand
of God that saved some people and not others. I honestly don't
believe that the Divine punishes or judges or directs the cataclysmic
happenings on earth. Storms happen. Earthquakes, and fires, and
tsunamis, and floods, and goodness, and kindness, and helping hands
happen—all at the same time. There is no cosmic meaning. There is
only a human response to human suffering. That's where the meaning
comes in.
If there is an
overarching meaning to the level of destruction we are seeing from
storms with 220-miles-per-hour winds, it is that the planet is
heating up to an unsustainable level. It is a moral obligation, as
well as a survival mechanism, for us to do everything we possibly can
to lower our contribution to this heating. Whatever you believe to be
the reason for the earth's heating, we know that human beings are
adding to the problem, and we have the solution to it. The question
is, do we have the moral and political will to act while there is
still time? Making all the money in the world, exploiting all the
mineral riches and petroleum deposits on the earth will not make up
for destroying our own habitat.
We each have to find our
own meaning for what happens on this earth. If we spend just a little
bit of time and effort looking within ourselves to see what we as
individuals can do to help our circumstances, we may find that
meaning. If we are constantly looking for others to either save us or
to take the blame, we will likely come and go without adding any
value to the human experience. In the words of the late, great Joseph
Campbell: “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we
bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you
are the answer.”
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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