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After spending a lifetime searching  for the meaning of life I have come to an inalienable conclusion – it will never be found. No, I am not a nihilist, anarchist or even severely clinically depressed. The meaning of life will never be found because it does not exist independently.

Say what? OK, picture this, it is your daughter's birthday and she has requested a chocolate cake. Do you go into the kitchen and look for a cake in the flour bin? Do you then turn to the cabinet and hope to find a cake in the baker's chocolate, or in the egg carton in the refrigerator? Is the frosting in the butter dish or the powdered sugar?

Of course not. But if you take all the ingredients for the cake and put them together, viola! Chocolate cake! Now some are master bakers and come up with confectionary delights while others barely survive a Betty Crocker mix. But the cake is created from the actions of the baker and only exists in the mind of the creator prior to the baking process.

So back to the meaning of life. Meaning only exists in the mind until it is created by the action of the thinker.

 We take what is given to us and create meaning out of it. That is why it is often disastrous to try and force our idea of meaning upon others.  Chocolate cakes cannot be made with coconut and caramel.  But coconut and caramel together with a few more ingredients can make some delightful cookies. We take what we have and create what we can.

A great deal of the problems in the world are caused by sincere people thinking they have found meaning and wanting to share it with others. I have the utmost respect for my Christian friends and cherish their joy but theirs is not the only answer. It is not my answer. I am a liberal Democrat but my answers are no more appropriate or inappropriate than those of conservative Republicans. We all try on quite a few glass slippers before we find on that fits. The answer to life is in individuals creating personal meaning and weaving it with others into a rich tapestry of existence.

I have created meaning through my family, my friends, my art and in my spirituality.

 

I fulfill myself by my activism, making the world a better place for the above. The hardest thing I have had to accept is the fact that others find meaning in things that are the antithesis of mine.  So what is the meaning of life? Life is what you make it. What is the purpose of life? Creating meaning, learning to accept the meaning of others and incorporating them all into the interdependent web of life.

Who said "life's a bitch and then you die?" Not at all so. Life has its ups and downs but wouldn't it be boring if everything was all sunshine and roses? Every good Capitalist knows that value goes down as availability goes up, things are only special if we don't have them all the time. My philosophy in life is that the best of times don't happen very often but are worth the wait; if you can find some humor in the worst of times, then the in betweens will just take care of themselves.  I have had and still do have fun!

Check out the activist links to see where I found a good source of meaning. Check out the Tallahassee link to find out how to have fun while finding meaning.