The Meaning of Life
I’ve always liked asking the big questions, so let’s get right into it, and start with one of the classics:
What is the meaning of life?
Interestingly, when people ask this question it seems to me they are really asking a slightly different question, which is, “What is the meaning of my life?" or “Why am I here?” After all, who knows the meaning of all of life? Many people have guesses, but no one knows for certain. Most of us would be satisfied just to know why we are here. This desire has given birth to religions, philosophies, belief systems, and all sorts of ideas striving to answer this inherently mysterious question.
Personally, I believe no one knows because life actually doesn’t have any meaning. Or to put it in a less bleak-sounding way, life is its own meaning. We are alive for the simple joy of being alive! That’s really it. What more do we need?
Isn’t it enough to be, to play, to express, to create, to connect, to move, to sing, to feel, to think, to love, to dance, to laugh, to explore? None of those needs a reason why or a deeper meaning. They are their own reward. They don’t need a religion or a philosophy to explain them. And they tend to be how we show up when we are unencumbered by any restraints, when we feel truly free.
Of course there are a million things that can interfere with our ability to feel free and be authentically expressed, which is why I am writing this. It’s why I have a healing practice and support other people (schedule a session today!). It’s why I work with plant medicines. It’s why I meditate. It’s why I enjoy reminding you of who you are, of who we all are, beneath our typically serious adult demeanors. I get it. Things get in the way!
One of the biggest things that gets in the way, in my humble opinion, is that as we grow older we get way too serious. We stop laughing, dancing, and playing in order to perform what we think are our duties. We function as cogs in a machine that doesn’t even know we are human, let alone that we are divine.
We lose nearly all spontaneity and lightness as we adhere to a structure that is rigid, confining, and too often soul-crushing. We are driven by success, by duty, by responsibility, by our mortgage, and by fear. We do what we think we should, what we are taught, what is expected of us. Slowly all of the fun seems to drain out of life, and as Alan Watts once said, “Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.” Life is supposed to be fun! It’s absurd that we are here! It’s silly! Let’s enjoy it.
In 2009, a hospice worker named Bronnie Ware wrote about the top five regrets of dying people. They were, in order:
1.) I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2.) I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
3.) I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
4.) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5.) I wish that I had let myself be happier.
These sad reminders are all pointing us back to the shared truth that we are here to be free, to be ourselves, to play, feel, express, connect, and be happy. Let us all learn from those who have gone before so that we regret nothing on our deathbeds.
The meaning of life is to celebrate life. We are here! We are aware! Isn’t that incredible? We are engaged in what I like to call divine play. But we think there must be more to it. That answer is too simple. Our so-called adult minds gravitate towards complexity and believe that we also need to work, and create banks, and health insurance, and cars, and indoor plumbing, and cell phones.
We have created a world far more complex than it needs to be. Why? I’m not sure we know why. We’ve just done it. Partly it’s because we are inherently creative creatures, and we love to make things. The deeper issue is that so many of our creative pursuits are compelled by a sense of fear, greed, lack, and separation. Thus our creations end up reflecting that. We end up unnecessarily complicating our lives this way, along with perpetuating states of fear and separation.
We are also driven by the sense that happiness is right around the corner, if only we could mold the world manipulate our lives into the exact right conditions. Of course, those conditions will never arrive, and if they do, they are fleeting. We will continue to tinker and tweak and manipulate and complain, finding infinite ways to “improve” things instead of finding the peace and happiness that lies within us already.
This isn’t to say nothing needs to be done, that we should avoid all responsibility and live lives of indulgence, excess, greed, and laziness. Nor is it a call for more navel-gazing. Far from it. It is simply to say that when we are aligned with our divinely and innately playful selves, we will be motivated to do a great many things. But that motivation will not come from a place of fear or lack, but rather from joy, connection, and celebration.
Everything that needs to be done will be done without effort, without resistance, without fear. It is done in a spirit of willingness, cooperation, and joy. We take care of each other because we love each other. Life returns to its playful origins. Foraging for food is a game. Making and sharing a meal is a time for community. Building a home is a group project undertaken in love. Bathing is a time to nurture the body and delight in the cleansing power of water. How sweet it can all be!
This is the meaning of life: To live it fully! It is not for a future reward, nor is it to get anywhere. There is nowhere to go! This is all that is happening. We are free-falling in the eternal is-ness of Spirit, and while that sounds terrifying to the ego, it is the only place we can truly be at home. It is where we are truly free. Here, now. This is it. We all live in the mystery, and when we can accept that, we can truly start to experience the simple joy of being alive.