The Meaning of Life -

Human beings have, through some means, established themselves as the primary caretakers of this world. We dominate nature as best we can and live our lives with the flexibility our human perspectives grant us. Human beings have some sort of extraordinary sentience that is lacking in the other creatures on our planet. As a result, man has continually come to ask exactly why it has been given the precious gift of reason in the first place. The driving force behind this question is the fact that in order for humans to have a desire to accomplish something, we require a meaning or a drive to succeed. Life is no exception. What, then, is the reason for life? As best I can see it, life is a big helping of chewy interactions and experiences wrapped up in a soft pillowy blanket of bittersweet consciousness. Each day, the morsel of life turns and cooks inside a universal oven for some greater meal we have yet to fathom. Like a little speck of yeast bubbling away inside a loaf of bread, we cannot begin to guess the ultimate purpose of our creation. Therefore, we must have some faith and do our best to contribute what we can to give to the greater purpose. God, the chef supreme, has thrown together some sort of bizarre science experiment of a meal and continually turns on the little oven light just long enough to peer into the thick of his concoction to check up on us. If we need to be turned over to get a better overall golden brown sheen, he'll flip us. However, he refrains from poking us too much for fear of breaking the beautiful crisp blanket of bittersweet consciousness all over the place. Mr. Super-sentience himself cares far less about the actual meal than what's happening inside. It's like he's put a bunch of unusual ingredients into the mix and is curious how they all meld with each other. He might know that, in some respect, he'll get a pastry out of the deal. What he doesn't know is how exactly the individual parts will influence the rest of the courses, how long they'll take to be done, or even if they'll taste any good at all. God is in this experiment for a sheer love of cooking and a concern for the well being of his creations.

Humans have a basic responsibility to contribute what they can to the great experiment. Each human has the ability to influence the direction of the universe. Taoists believe that people can achieve purpose through doing by not doing. By not doing, we accept by default what is happening around us and are forced to become stagnant in our convictions about the world and the universe in which we live. In cause and effect syntax, we must contribute something to the universe to receive anything of substance back. The fact of the matter is that the world is full of interactions and unique events. Everything we do has some sort of effect on the next set of events. Each interaction we have adds to the next and every thought we think is part of an overall human consciousness. God needs us to contribute flavor to his experiment. Because each person is an individual, there are three basic ways to accomplish this task. First, we must inject part of ourselves into the experiment. Whether through actual actions, ideas, or merely expressing ourselves as our personalities see fit, each person should try to create some waves by his or her presence in the universe. Secondly, we have a responsibility to maintain ourselves to further this goal. Physical, mental, and emotional healthiness is very important. Lastly, we must support others in their pursuit of the greater experimental influence. Humanity is the sum of more than one human and we most certainly need each other's help to survive as we were intended.

For starters, people contribute to the experiment by living their lives. The degree or way people influence the direction of the reaction is up to them. True, some people may appear to be more influential than others. However, such analysis is like an analysis of a house by an ant. Even if the ant were able to comprehend the house, it can never see all the sides of the house from any one perspective due to its size and shape. So, every human must lend their skills and talents to making waves in their own way, giving humanity the opportunity to see a little more of the greater perspective by our combined efforts. God isn't necessarily looking for a race of highly entertaining super humans. No, he just requires an individual to inject a little bit of his or herself into the fray. Nobody has the same style. Existentialism in the vein of Sartre or Nietzsche really seeks freedom and passion in the realization of the futility of an existence. I would counter that a life is only futile if your presence has no affect on anything. This will never happen, in a practical sense, because humans draw nourishment from their environment for survival. A person can never leave their bubble of influence on their surroundings. We change the world by existing. Therefore, futility is not the point, leaving only the passion to guide one's life. For me, I rely most on artistic expression, personality, humor, morality and justice to shake things up a bit. Another person may be led by other passions, which are hardly less legitimate. We are called to merely allow ourselves to shine a bit from time to time, and God will grin from his view just outside the oven screen.

In order to succeed in our individual contributions to the experiment, we must maintain a certain level of self-maintenance. A human being is a complex piece of artwork. We are truly beautiful creations and are an achievement to be marveled at. As such, we must keep ourselves in proper working condition to convey the artistic vision God had when he created us. Physical health allows the body to function properly in everyday tasks and feeds the mind the nutrients it needs to communicate with the soul. The mind has the connections to the soul embedded within it. Through these unusual metaphysical nodes we find that when the mind is in good shape, communication between the soul and our bodies is unhindered and clear. Our souls and intelligence must be nurtured as we grow in maturity and understanding. Education allows greater width of understanding and tunes the mind and the soul to more accurately process the world around us. By keeping our bodies, minds, and spirits in excellent condition, we give ourselves the tools we need to be effective contributors.

While people are responsible for themselves as humans, we are not alone in our quest for purpose. Our other responsibility is to help fellow humans have more meaningful lives. Through friendship, love, hope, compassion, and communication, we can support each other and become better people in the process. Friendship is a defining aspect of life that endures in the heart. Both the support of a friend in rough times and the sharing of sweet experiences give us a basic sense of satisfaction in knowing we are sharing life itself with another. Humans are truly social creatures. Love, the special link between people that goes beyond simple trust and mutuality, is one of the most precious of gifts God has afforded us. Nothing can move the spirit like love can. To use a completely useless philosophical quote that kinda relates to what I'm saying, Lao-Tzu once wrote "To be deeply loved by someone gives you strength; To deeply love someone gives you courage." Christians say that God is the embodiment of love. Considering how much love means to us as creatures, and the ends to which we will go to find it, this could very well be true. Not only are love and friendship important, but compassion is also crucial. If man could merely empathize with man, the world could be a better place. While such grandiose humanitarian ideals are far easier said than done, small-scale practice of this concept on a daily basis can certainly add up to more substance in the long run.

Humans are very complicated creations. We possess free will, and it gets us in trouble every now and then. I'd like to think, however, that the experiment within which we live has some sort of meaning or purpose. All I know is that nobody can go wrong living with these three basic ideas. I'll probably change my ideas many times before I kick the bucket. However, I've got some time, and so do you, so enjoy it...... you crazy kook.

-Dan Connor