How Do We Find the Meaning of Life?

There is no meaning in life except what we give it. That is a gift in that each one of us can find our own path to meaning.

The moment I got on board with the idea of cruising full time is the moment I realized there is no meaning in life but what I can find in it. I had a choice. Do I continue down the well-worn (I mean 8-lane highway, concrete, and asphalt well-worn) path of the work-a-day world? Or, do I do the thing that seems crazy to everyone else but brings clarity and meaning to me?

How Would Star Stuff Find The Meaning of Life?

If we are, as Carl Sagan said, living Star Stuff and a way for the Cosmos to know itself, who are we to sit on our asses behind computer screens at safe, predictable jobs? What if we are the only consciousness of an otherwise empty Universe? Don’t we owe it to the Creative Force that exploded itself so that we could have a go at life…to have…a life? To have some experience of this gorgeous, messy, painful, amazing planet? Perhaps, do something meaningful to us? And what does “meaning” even mean? The beauty of that question is that the answer is already present. What is meaningful to you?

I’m Done Should-ing On Myself

I’ve done nearly everything society said I “should” do. I got a degree. I bought all the stuff: a couple of houses, cars, flat-screen TVs, clothes, therapy, booze. No kids or I’d need more of all of the above. But, the truth is, I despise television programming and I don’t particularly enjoy being a homeowner. In my humble opinion, The American Dream is highly overrated. It promises happiness if you work hard and buy a bunch of cool stuff. All it delivers is debt and despondency.

But, now I’ve made the conscious decision that I have enough. If you let the advertising industry con you, “enough” is a dangling carrot, designed to remain just out of reach. So, I’m off the Madison Avenue promises of happiness through stuff – and houses and work and vacations and escape through “mommy juice”. Instead, I’m going to see what happens when I have and then write about my experiences. Maybe I’ll shoot some video or rekindle my love for photography. I look forward to conversations with strangers and taking long walks. Partly because I won’t have a car, but mostly because after 23 years in cubicles, I need to see the sky.

Sailing Vessel Star Stuff 

Today, I resigned from my job. In a month, we will drive what little remains of our possessions to Florida and move aboard our Whitby 42, Star Stuff. My husband and I discussed other names, but this was the one that stood out as meaningful, so the name has been painted on the hull!  

I love the name. It reminds me every time I see it to check in with myself and ask, “am I being good Star Stuff? Am I collecting wonderful, unique experiences as part of a living Cosmos? Do I test my comfort zone? Am I creating anything?” These are the things I find meaningful. These (and who knows what else!) are the things I want to pursue in the last half of my life.