Different Views On The Meaning Of Life

In order to attempt “defining” a meaningful life, I felt it would only be right to know how others defined something to actually be meaningful. I’ve had many diverse answers on the questions I posed, so in order to better understand them I tried to find patterns behind the idea’s people were giving. How do you define something to be meaningful? What are the most meaningful aspects of your life? ON a scale of 1-10 how meaningful is your life? These are the questions I decided to focus more on when asking friends outside of school, and complete strangers on the street. The two most common categories people based their definition of their life to be meaningful were connections and time.

I found it to be highly common for people to define something to be meaningful as how much of an impact it has on their life and also how you can connect it with your own life (either through memories, feelings, experiences, etc). For instance, when I asked a fairly rich white woman on the street how she defines something to be meaningful she replied “If I can connect it with my own life and use what I've learned to grow as a person, then it’s meaningful.” “I guess an example would be when I first learned how to cook. It was meaningful to me because I was able to use everything I’ve learned about cooking and apply it to how I cook now. It affected me as a person because now I am an overall better cook”. Being able to connect what you’ve learned and make it part of who you are seemed to be the definition of her life being meaningful (or at least from what I understood).

A Spanish working poor man I asked replied something similar. “Usually when things have a connection to other aspects of my life, almost like a spiritual feeling, then I think it’s meaningful.” “A spiritual feeling like a sense of belonging where you feel connected to whatever it is your experiencing.” “… an example of a time I feel spiritually connected to something meaningful is the picture I have in my wallet of my deceased father. Every time I look at it, I feel a connection and it brings out something in me that I can relate to once again.” I felt as though he was trying to explain that his experiences shared in which he can connect to by bringing out good times is something he finds meaningful. This could be because his father probably helped shape him into who he is today.

Not everyone has the same view though. I continued interviewing more people, and the following paired the idea of something being meaningful in their lives to how much time it takes up. The next person I asked was a fairly wealthy black man who replied "If it takes up a lot of time and intention then it’s probably meaningful". I’m guessing he probably figures that if you spend a lot of time doing something then it’s meaningful. These types of people tend to believe that everything happens for a reason so of course if you’re spending majority of your time on it, then it must be meaningful.

A white middle class woman replied “If it matters in more than 3 months.” “Like relationships, they’re only meaningful if they’re long; otherwise they’re a waste of time… if it only lasts a week then it had no importance because it didn’t help you grow in any way.” “I feel like she was trying to say that spending so much time on something such as a relationship is most likely meaningful in a sense that it’s going to help mold her into a different more mature and intelligent being. It makes sense and I completely understand where she is coming from but I have to disagree. I feel like even if something took up only a week, it really depends on the type of experience you shared in order for it to be meaningful or not.

The last person I’m going to use is a fairly new friend who interestingly kind of combined both ideas. When I asked him how he defines something to be meaningful he said, “Something that has feelings/memories invested in it. Like if someone has used something for a long time or can associate memories or memorable experiences through the item then it is essentially meaningful.” “…well a person can be meaningful too because you associate memories or feelings with them and/or have invested feelings in them.” “Like someone you love, they are meaningful because of the experiences you’ve had that have made you closer to them. You have invested a lot of feelings into that one person making them meaningful to you.” I asked him what are the most meaningful aspects of his life and he replied, “The things that stand for something, those times in life where you’re as happy as can be. Where you can sit back with that one person or with those people and feel like your life is good. Like memories with friends, or family, or a significant other. Those memories are maybe some of the best. Or athletic moments where you do really good, I love those.” I asked if he could describe a time in his life where he was as happy as can be and what made him feel that way. “Getting into the college I wanted, that made my parents proud, something to that affect.” “Well it made me happy because I could like lift the pressure off and my parents were proud and like the way life was after the acceptance letter. It was really good because everyone was happy for me. They treat me better, give me more money, more lenience, and I get away with more shit. Now I can ask for anything I want. So it’s like I give them what they want and they give me what I want type of relationship. But with unconditional love. We fight and hate each other but we still love each other.” So to me I feel like feelings, memories, and experiences define how he thinks something is meaningful but he mentioned time playing a role also. Everyone who I interviewed related something to be meaningful whether it was connection, time, or even both also combined it with the idea of learning and growing as a person/letting it shape who you are. This is most meaningful because it’s what makes us, us.