meaning for different people are obviously really different. some people like to save dolphins, others like to build orphanages. some devote their lives to creating change in the public eye, others prefer to retreat into a cave to meditate for the rest of their lives.
so is leading a meaningful life a physiological reaction that makes us feel warm and fuzzy? and why do people seek meaning in the first place? (we generally don't, there are too many things to do and too many distractions). but, we generally assume we're here for a reason. just because i can't understand it this moment doesn't mean my life is meaningless. plenty of people depend on me, and i depend on a lot of people. isn't that meaning enough already?
but is there a greater meaning, a macro-level meaning, beyond the day-to-day that i need to get up to go to work so i can finish that project so i can get my salary so i can eat so i can feed my family so i can pay rent so i won't starve so i won't die. not yet at least, since i have all these other things i need to do. sure, none of that matters after i die, but since i'm not dead, i still need to get up to go to work.
is there an ultimate reason for my existence? if it doesn't impact my daily life, why am i still looking for it?
alternatively, could we exist happily knowing our lives are devoid of what i regard as meaning? get that warm fuzzy feeling, while realizing life's inherent meaninglessness, freed from the bondage of having to search for meaning? can this trickle down to the feeling of freedom on a day-to-day basis?
how do i gel the deep contradiction of knowing there is no true freedom and yet that is supposed to set us truly free?
