Do you regard your life as having a meaning, either known to you or not conscious yet? This may sound religious, but it does not have to be about a theological belief, although such a belief could suffice as to grant the impression that one's life has a recognizable meaning.
There is a nice little phrase by Borges, according to which a person was said to have no meaning at all in his life, but sometime inspired an author to create a character who was later studied by millions. So meaning could also exist in an entirely hidden way, more so to the individual person, who might not even be looking for it anyway.
I often reflect on how others influenced me, and how i influenced others. Perhaps those influences alone would give meaning to my life, since i know that, inevitably, if i was not there then things would be different for other people too, in varying degrees. That said i am a very introverted person, and to have the view that i caused an effect on others while being so closed to myself might even show that less introverted people cannot fail to have a more obvious effect on their environment.
Earlier today i was at a bookstore. The three people working there had read my published story in the magazine, and said they liked it a lot. This is a form of influencing as well, that they felt something positive while reading a story which would not exist if i did not exist.
So personally i can always be of the view that my life would have had meaning, in some respects, even if i died tomorrow, since already there is my work around, my nearing 7500 pages of diary notes, my 400 pages of prose fiction, and some lesser works. Maybe even if i perished they would find their way to a publication, much like Pessoa's 35.000 manuscripts were discovered in his attic some time after his death.
So, the question is the following: do you find your own life meaningful, and is it meaningful in a way intelligible to you? Moreover is it meaningful in relation to yourself, or to others, or both?
There is a nice little phrase by Borges, according to which a person was said to have no meaning at all in his life, but sometime inspired an author to create a character who was later studied by millions. So meaning could also exist in an entirely hidden way, more so to the individual person, who might not even be looking for it anyway.
I often reflect on how others influenced me, and how i influenced others. Perhaps those influences alone would give meaning to my life, since i know that, inevitably, if i was not there then things would be different for other people too, in varying degrees. That said i am a very introverted person, and to have the view that i caused an effect on others while being so closed to myself might even show that less introverted people cannot fail to have a more obvious effect on their environment.
Earlier today i was at a bookstore. The three people working there had read my published story in the magazine, and said they liked it a lot. This is a form of influencing as well, that they felt something positive while reading a story which would not exist if i did not exist.
So personally i can always be of the view that my life would have had meaning, in some respects, even if i died tomorrow, since already there is my work around, my nearing 7500 pages of diary notes, my 400 pages of prose fiction, and some lesser works. Maybe even if i perished they would find their way to a publication, much like Pessoa's 35.000 manuscripts were discovered in his attic some time after his death.
So, the question is the following: do you find your own life meaningful, and is it meaningful in a way intelligible to you? Moreover is it meaningful in relation to yourself, or to others, or both?
