“Does life have a purpose?” The question sounds valid but I don’t think it has a meaning. Purpose is what you have when you do particular actions, or when you set time to do something. For “life has purpose” to be true, then there would need to be some arbiter, such as God, who could define it. And if there were a God who could define it, then he would, and leave us in no doubt.

To me it belongs to the group of questions whose answer doesn’t bother me at all, even if they are meaningful, like “what is the colour of a unicorn’s eyes?”

I don’t imagine a slug asks the question whether its life has a purpose, even if it could. I accept I am an animal & as you say, it is not even a question of whether one is happy or unhappy. Something impels us to keep in motion: expressing life in physical movement, feeling, thought and yearning.

Asking “does life have a purpose?” is a philosophical way to say “I’m lost”, I suppose. If I am not lost, it doesn’t mean I can answer the question.

I like your assertion “I am always myself”. Yes, it is astonishing isn’t it? I can say that too. The little boy was me. the man who’s typing this in the comments section of your blog is also me: the same me.

Do I love my life? This is a good question. Is there anything I would change? That’s another meaningless question. Moment to moment I feel the irresistible necessity to change something. Little changes: to sweep the kitchen floor is to change something. Naturally I can’t change the past: only my attitude to it, and the memories I choose to dwell on and the ones which I don’t want to dwell on.

I worry about my children and grandchildren: is there something I should be doing or saying as part of my duty to them? And in a broader sense, I accept a certain responsibility in relation to my community and the wider world.

But if I die more or less unremembered, with no notable achievement recognized by others or myself: this is of no importance. I do what I can. I try and in the very trying there is often some pain or anxiety or unease. It is inevitable in any kind of striving.

Serenity, I too wonder “what am I supposed to be doing that I am not doing”, like a constant self-audit. It seems the natural result of being conscientious, having time on one’s hands and being open-minded.

Vincent,
Thank you for this thoughtful response. I think, “I’m lost” is a good way to describe this feeling. I know very well what activities of “doing” give me the greatest sense of fulfillment in my life. And I wonder if it will ever be enough for me to just let those things be what they are without seeking approval, from others, and from myself. What difference does it make if anyone likes it or even whether I like it? The process is what is so fulfilling, not necessarily the result. The nagging critic, though, is always hovering.

I like how you sum this up with the realization that to ask ourselves the question, “what am I supposed to be doing that I am not doing” we are being conscientious…this to me is a sign of movement rather than stagnation…to self audit and to self correct, though at times an uncomfortable place to be, is still preferable to me than standing still.

hehe… beause I seriously just finished watching a bit from george Carland over on Coops site…

Our purpose is to make plastic So now that you have the answer, feel complete. hehe…

xmichra,

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.

Joseph Campbell

Twila,
This is beautifully expressed, and a wonderful quote. I think there is a lot of truth in this. The days when we feel most alive do we ever ask ourselves what the meaning of life is? And I wonder why it is this can be so hard on a more regular basis. It isn’t at all difficult to feel alive when standing on top of a mountain, or by the sea, or in the arms of a lover…so in the more mundane of the everyday, which makes up the majority of our living time, how is it that a shift in perspective might create more “aliveness” ?