> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
Do you ever stop and think about the meaning of your life? If you do, then you should examine how you got here, and then proceed to the next step, which is why you were sent here. When you understand these things, then determine what your purpose is. When that’s clear, you’re ready to fill in the intervening space and time until your soul is called to what’s known as up yonder. Once there, apparently your worries end, but putting all the pieces together down here is your biggest problem.
Thinking through everything will exhaust you, especially if your intellectual capacity is limited like mine. Fortunately, we’ve had dreamers and philosophers to think for us. In “A Brief History of Thought,” Luc Ferry presents an overview of deep thought tracing it back to the Greeks and other philosophers such as Nietzsche, Rousseau and Kant. He says that philosophers help us live in a better and freer way, and added, “Virtually all our thoughts, convictions and values exist and have meaning — whether or not we are conscious of it — within models of the world that have been developed over the course of intellectual history.”
Yes, we go from fad to fad. I went through a Stoic stage and then found Hedonism better suited to my taste. We’ve had some great ones — Aristotle, Locke and Muhammad Ali, but have you noticed, we’ve been going through a brain drain for a century or two. Don’t tell me your model is Newt Gingrich. Name another modern-day intellectual living on earth who has an influence on the improvement of the quality of your life. Mark Zukerburg of Facebook fame doesn’t qualify, nor do Republicans and Democrats. To qualify, you have to improve the quality of life.
Unless you happen to be a deep thinker, people like little old me get most of our philosophy from our neighbors across the back fence. Take Herb my neighbor, who once told me he followed three primary guidelines in living his good life. He said he gets up every morning, goes to work and then goes back home and hits the sack again. If there is any time left over, he considers it gravy. When I asked if he ever reflects on reality, he said it wasn’t worth the trouble. I then asked if he ever considered undergoing self-examination to better know himself. He said he tried it once and it didn’t work. Herb is a somewhat complex, but down-to-earth kind of guy, the kind that makes the world go round.
During our discussions, I didn’t want to get too personal, but I was curious as to what made him tick. Rather bluntly, I asked, “Do you have a purpose in life?” He said he was working on it, and making gains after he entered the wireless cyber world, which opened new and exciting doors for him. He wanted to show me how his new iPod worked, but I did not want to tarnish my life with any more technology. However, I was curious as to how an iPod contributes to the purpose, meaning or anything else regarding the human condition and the eternal quest for self-actualization, fulfillment and, if not an intelligent mind, an intact one. Herb said his life had more meaning now since he began using his iPod driving to work. He explained that he had discovered realms about life that he had never known before while waiting for red lights to turn green.
It was late and we’d stood there for an hour or more at the back fence. He told me he’d get back to me on the meaning and purpose thing. Days went by before Herb showed, during which what’s-it-all-about rambled through my somewhat tormented inner self, which seemed so empty and exposed.
I was mowing the lawn when Herb came out. He said he’d picked up a couple of things on his iPod, which turned his life around. So? “Keep it simple,” he said. Keep what simple? “Your life,” he said. I was unaware he had such depth, but I needed further clarification. Herb said that he’d Googled “meaning” and received several million hits. He said he’d learned that love is the silent conversation between two hearts. Baffling. He said one email explained that he had a spark of divinity within him. So? “Don’t you get it?” he asked.
“No one will make me happy, or unhappy, so it’s up to me,” he said.
I resumed mowing the lawn, pondering the happiness thing.
Contact Terry Cummins at TLCTLC@AOL.com.
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Author Terry Cummins, photographed Sept. 4, 2008. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen
Discussion
CUMMINS: How to develop a philosophy of life
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