Meaning?

By: Aldrin Babanto Lamzon

The question of meaning is seriously hunting us as a person. There are times that we can't still figure out what is really the meaning of our lives is. And worst, even the definition of the word meaning itself, we cannot fathom. How can we say that we are already creating meaning when meaning is something metaphysical in nature that most of the times we somehow find it difficult to incorporate its real essence into something empirical? How can a man say that “I am doing something meaningful if the mere creation of meaning itself cannot be totally defined?

Yes, it’s absurd to think of meaning this far and I am already questioning what is really meant when other's say meaning. Is it only meaningful when I am happy about it? Or is it just meaningful when I made other people happy? I still have a lot of questions with regards to man’s creation of meaning.  I am at the moment of finding the right criteria to incorporate meaning into the things I am doing. If I am happy at the moment, I don't have the feeling of emptiness and the feeling of distress, then is it meaningful already? My finding of meaning is still in the state of chaos and problematic at times since reality would say that not all the times we are happy.  There are times that we feel like empty-bottled body thrown out of the meaningless existence. Even though we feel like doing our best lapses are still hunting us and we feel like inescapable from it. When we lose something or someone, we sometimes thought that life is meaningless already, hasty generalization but we cannot blame ourselves to think this way. Our minds, after all, are programmed to make generalizations out of what is only there to be induced into.

 In the broadness of this topic of meaning, to make sense out of this reflection, I will be inductively associate meaning to our common experiences in hope that I can extract some definitions of the word itself out the pieces of experiences of life.

We are constantly finding meaning. This for me is one of the deepest reason for our existence and the most exciting part of our seeking. As for Martin Buber, the reality of Death calls for a responsibility for man to find meaning in the shortness of life. Man must realize that life is too short not to spend the most of it to create impact to others and to the world. In short, the realization of the reality of Death can be the starting point of the definition of meaning of life. In this context, meaning is about making sense to life but creating impact to the persons that surrounds you. Since we are limited to the reality of our being existent and death, in between that realities lie our utmost responsibility to create meaning in existence. And how can we associate meaning through it? In this sense we need others to define our impact. For instance, we are doing good not only for the thought of getting something in return but because we want to leave some legacy behind, something that other people will value and remember. We create meaning not only for ourselves but for us to have a lasting impact to others. So, my first point is that, meaning is about creating an impact to others since they are the ones that can define our own worth.

Secondly, every person is bounded by the reality of differences. We cannot stop ourselves from comparing what we are capable of, what we have acquired, and what are the things that makes us different from others. This thought if not managed well can lead us into frustration. How can we associate it with meaning? For me, the more we think of possible things that makes us better to others, it can be a way for us to create something within us and even strive to be a much better individual than the rest. We are creating an image of ourselves that separates us from other people around us. This can lead to a negative impact to others, if not managed well, but then in the brighter side, it individualizes the human person themselves because through it, man creates his own self-image.