These four guys, know as the Fab Four, or The Beatles, managed to produce music that changed the world. I am pretty sure that they did not plan to do so, it just... kind of happened. (And this long before Facebook, Twitter, and the www.)
Most of us hopefuls, however creative and original, hardworking and diligent, never become rich and/or "famous", nor do we get to change the world. Vincent Van Gogh, arguably one of the greatest artists, died long before he was even able to support himself financially in the most rudimentary of ways. Now, he is one of the most recognisable artists in the world, and his paintings....well, many of them have price tags in the amount of millions of dollars. I have a feeling that neither The Beatles nor Vincent Van Gogh purposely set out to became famous or rich when they created their art, rather, creating their art gave their life meaning and purpose.
I came across a line in a book: "without purpose, men dwell carelessly" (I am assuming with "men", the author means "mankind") which lead me to ponder the importance of "purpose".
This is the Freedictionary definition: "The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or goal."
Victor Frankl, in his book "Man's search for Meaning" has this to say: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”
Among the many different kinds of anxieties mankind endures, ....let me introduce this one: "existential anxiety", and it can be a particularly pesky critter in my view.
Part of its "nature", may I suggest, is that it is often so vague.
A person suffering with this type of anxiety may experience a general sense of meaninglessness, a lack of purpose for his/her life, an underlying sense of boredom, feeling a lack of direction for his/her life, and a vague sense of feeling like something is "missing".
At some point or another, many of us contemplate questions such as: who am I, why am I here, and now that I am here, what am I supposed to do with my life; i:e the meaning of life?
These questions can be experienced as quite distressing, and for some of us, ignoring them may seem like a preferred option, but unfortunately, these questions often have a tendency to keep "percolating" in our subconsciousness and often with the result of that vague feeling of that something is "missing".
As a little kid (three) I heard Louis Armstrong play "Saint James Infirmary" and from that moment I knew that I wanted to become a jazz musician. If asked: "what are you going to be when you grow up?", my answer was: "a jazz pianist". Only three, but I knew that the purpose of my life, was to be a jazz musician. “Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”
I knew the "why", and all the hours of practise, study, listening, performing, composing, etc.. were the answers to "how".
Finding a meaning/purpose for one's life may involve asking oneself a number of questions such as: what do I care about, what is important to me, what would I like to do with my life, what values/morals/ethics are important to me, what would I like to contribute to my family/community/society, .......(insert here your own questions).........etc.
The very questions that may create anxiety in us, may also assist us in helping us to find meaning and purpose as we seek to answer those questions.
Whatever your answers may be, the wonderful thing in my view, is that they can be changed or extended at any time.
If you have a sense that perhaps you are dwelling somewhat carelessly, that something seems to be missing all the time, perhaps taking some time out to ponder what gives your life meaning and purpose may be helpful? (things of a life-affirming nature=having an emotionally/spiritually/physically uplifting effect.)
Examples: I loose track of time when I........
I used to love......... when I was a kid, perhaps I could .....now?
I know the why, now I want to get to the how....
I feel passionate about......, what can I do to support that passion?
"The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation." (Michael Jackson)
Existentialist view existential anxiety as a potential catalyst for growth rather than a problem needing a cure, however, my view is that each individual may have to decide for themselves if or when assistance may be needed by a health professional if their existential anxiety is overly troublesome. While in a chat room, I was asked by a chatter: "what do you think the meaning of life is?" After some thoughtful consideration I answered: "to find it". To which he replied: "what does that mean?" "I don't view "the meaning of life" as something static, rather, as something that changes day to day, moment to moment, although perhaps, the source from which all "meaning" springs, may be to truly know Love", I answered.
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