(This is a piece I wrote as part of an upcoming book for another author’s exploration into the meaning of life.)
Consider who among us you have to answer this question - men and women at the height of developed countries, blessed with space enough to philosophize free from the fickle whims of war, famine, and disease. Of course, every person’s perspective is valid. Each of us resides in a universe of equal complexity and depth, but it’s presumptuous to pass down meaning to any common denominator.
What of the worker harvesting sugar cane in El Salvador? What of the rancher guiding their cattle over the Sahel? What of the girls who have been stolen, mutilated, and dragged through history? Will you speak to them of free will? Will you speak to them of drive, motivation, and want-to?
We are smaller than we realize (or would care to admit). We are grains of salt dissolving in a vast sea of unknowable reach. To presume meaning is as arrogant as it is foolish; the illusion of self-importance is the greatest destroyer of our world. Citizens caught in their own narrow perspective become incapable of compromise or compassion. With power, self-assured, unchecked meaning results in the same ideologues responsible for our most horrific atrocities.
The only lasting measure of a man’s worth is the happiness he possesses and the happiness he creates. Every other manmade construct in this world, even meaning, is in pursuit of that end. We want a home and a loving partner for security, we desire fame and accolades because of the respect they imbue, and we strive to achieve our dreams in the belief that we might ascend our humanity and unlock a state of perpetual self-acceptance. Yet the winding paths to security, respect, and self-acceptance are merely differing routes in pursuit of the same grail - happiness.
For those of us fortunate enough to reside in places with sufficient security and wealth to feign self-direction; being happy and creating happiness is a worthy aim. In most ways, the pursuit of happiness is best achieved by embracing your humanity. This means avoiding the industrialized pressure to hew yourself into an automaton of efficiency. Exercise, sleep well, surround yourself with nature, and spend time with your family. Accept that you will have bad days and forgive yourself. When others have a bad day, forgive them as well. Have a small purpose too; it need not be something as lofty and amorphous as a meaning to life, a passion to give structure to your days will do.
But even these are luxuries. If you are being crushed by the infinite forces more enormous than a single human life, it is enough to simply observe.
Do your best to lean into yourself and retain the thought, “So this is life? I shouldn’t know any better, it’s my first time here.” This isn’t the meaning of life, there is no meaning to life, but that’s okay. You’re alive. The world is abounding with beautiful complexity and filled with kind, interesting, and engaging people. Do away with self-importance. Pay attention. That’s enough.
Sharing this chat with you brings me so much joy. As I say in the beginning, the club of world walkers is few. Speaking with Angela Maxwell, a woman who walked 22,000 miles over six years, provided me with one of the rare opportunities to connect with someone who knows what it was like to be out there. We cover what it’s like to return to normal life, the beauty of being on the move, and the differences in camping from America to other countries. We recorded an hour of our conversation, but spoke for another forty minutes! Hope you enjoy.
You can read more about Angela on her website.
Your advice about "avoiding the industrialized pressure to hew yourself into an automaton of efficiency" is perfect. What a succinct way of summarizing what makes so many of us miserable.
Thank you for sharing this conversation with Andrea with us! It was great to see how well you two were able to connect through walking around the world, even though your routes and the rules you set for yourselves were so different. It seems that you both came back with very similar lessons and wisdom about the world and its people.