I’ve been doing a lot of job soul searching recently, and one of the most pressing questions during the process of finding work that doesn’t make you hate your life is “Why?” Finding the answer is not just helpful for the tough interview questions like ‘what are your life goals?’ but also questions about identity that people ask themselves. Why did I choose this field? What makes me happy? Why do I exist?
Basically, what is the meaning of my life?
That’s not an easy question, and I’ve put a good deal of thought into it. My take is this:
For me, the meaning of life is to create and appreciate beauty.
This is what I landed on because the definition of beauty is different for everyone.
My beauty is words. A well written poem speaks to me in sultry whispers and I think it’s beautiful. A good book draws me into wonderful worlds full of fantastic places. I love the power that language has to do that. And I love the feeling when I find the right words to say exactly what I’m thinking. I also a love being a part of the community of creators who sculpt language into beautiful things. I create and find beauty to appreciate and it is meaningful.
But that’s just me. Maybe your beauty is discovering the a new species, or writing and performing a great song. Maybe it’s creating another person; you live to create brand new humans, children who are unique and beautiful. Maybe your meaning is capturing the unexpected beauty around you through art. Or just drawing funny doodles for the internet. Maybe it’s none of those things, and you just live to appreciate the beauty around you. You find beauty in the soothing sounds of a quiet creek, in the funny shapes you see in the clouds, in the intricate cracks time traces in the pavement, or in the beautiful art that others create.
Whatever beauty means to us, it gives us purpose.
I like this because it means we are never ‘done’. There is progress because there are always new things to inspire us. Our ‘job’ is to see beauty and make beautiful things for others to find and appreciate. Beauty is everywhere. Life is beautiful and scary and meaningful because humanity makes it those things. This is my why. My manifesto. I live to create and appreciate beauty and reminding myself of that whenever I’m struggling to find motivation or a job or whatever it is, it really helps. I also made it into a comic, because why not?
Copy Write Paste 