THE RIVER OF LIFE

A fundamental problem exists with trying to discover the meaning of life.

(Note that when we talk about the meaning of life we always implicitly assume that we are talking about the meaning of our own lives. Consequently in this piece the term "meaning of life" is really shorthand for "the meaning of one's own life". The issue of the meaning of other people's lives is another topic altogether that I will be analysing at a later stage.)

We assume that life is a process/ activity that one can somehow step outside of and examine from a distance or that life is like an object that one can scrutinise under the microscope or that one can somehow freeze-frame life and analyse its contents.

Yet one is always immersed within the current of one's own life.

Imagine trying to determine the nature of a river while being dragged along by its stream. Your view of it will always, by necessity, be limited by your position within the river and by the fact that you are always immersed in it and have no access to any other river or to land.

Similarly we cannot observe life from outside or separate ourselves from our existence even for a moment. No matter how you try, you will always be fully immersed within the river of your life.

Consequently concepts like meaning, aim and function that we use to describe and explain other activities and objects cannot be applied to life itself.

Also, in order to grasp the meaning and purpose of a process X, one needs to see it in its entirety, from its beginning to its end point.

Obviously, some processes only make sense or reveal their function and purpose at their end point or it is only at their end point that all the previous stages of the process gain  meaning.

So it is with the process of life. As one can never view one's own life in its entirety, its meaning remains indeterminate, except perhaps from the vantage point of death's door.

Reviews

[dead]

I fully agree that the question towards (the opening) the meaning of life, is riddled by individual meaning, because even when looking for a globalized/eternal meaning; this is always done by means of something fitting within the individual life-world.
You are very accurate that we can never step outside of ourselves to look at our life (our being-here) and the importance of beginning and end has already been stressed Heidegger and Sartre because man’s being can only exist as a totality; I think thus that you are very right in attributing the search for meaning to a projection towards outside, am externalization of being through which however we lose our being (the interiority of spirit). The image of a river is important of course because it often conjures up Heraclitus: you can never step twice in the same river; the river is not that one piece, it is the whole of the river even the life that lives inside of that river and so it is with human life; our life is the whole of our life including all that lives in our life, our interactions etc; I think people are desperate for their search of a meaning because they are afraid to let go of that definable segment they find themselves in, afraid to go with the low; afraid … because as it says in the book of Ecclesiastes that all the rivers run to the sea. I mentioned before the humanistic variant of the uncertainty principle; a rephrasing here can be that one is always part of the problem because the only solution is always to let go. Good piece!

Steven

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

Ah yes, the ending reminds me of Mark Twain's words upon his deathbed - he said, 'Bring me my spectacles.' I assume it was then that he could truly analyze such a thing at the end of it all from that vantage point. Interesting topic - well done. Thank you.
Light,
Siddartha

[Done]

My favorite saying is, "No man knows another mans heart."

For example; two men are driving down the freeway on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with no particular destination in mind. One man cuts the other man off, which enrages the second man. Curses and rants fly from his mouth, he honks the horn and flips the other guy off. He goes home, still enraged, gets drunk, beats his wife and lets this incident fester in his heart.

But little did he know, the other man was suffering from a heart attack and actually crashed further down the road and died.

Really, from the outside, who are we to judge life? Why do we think we have all the answers-and even worse, make irrational decisions on this false wisdom? We may have similar experiences, but truly, we don't know the heart of the other person.

We are a live to live. It's that simple and it's principles are simple, although never easy.

Fantastic read, thank you.

Josh

[E. M. Murren]

Bravo. One cannot understand the meaning of life because We ARE life. What is the meaning of life? To Live. Cheers.

[Wendy G.]

hmm, interesting theory (river analogies aside) but if you believe in the absolution of energy then you could also state that the meaning of life also exists at the beginning of the existance of the life form which the energy chooses to reanimate, that being said we would know the meaning of life before or at birth, only we unlearn these simple earthly instincts when taught that they are evil forces to be ignored, and that we should cage and supress them until we no longer remember our purpose . . . thus the seemingly unending chain of ignorance thrives ;)

[Nats]

well said. absolute objectivity doesn't exist...

[Lady Tyke]

Hmmm I completely see where your coming from and I think I agree but then at the same time can we not have perspective of the progress or direction our lives will take?
You use the metaphor of life being river...if you see a waterfall before you as you are dragged down the river, you would not just allow yourself to topple over the edge of it and potentially die. You find a way of protecting yourself from that inevitable forthcoming. You aren't going to just sit there and say 'well there is nothing I can do' if you do your most likely going to die because you are too inwardly focused to look around for all your options.
It could be swimming until you find a solid branch to hold on to and taking a moment to look at your situation. Yes you may be surrounded by the river and only have a limited prospective but you are going to make the best of what you can find. The waterfall will always be there, that isn't going to change but there is always a different path to take. There is always solid land next to a river it's a question of are you willing to fight against the current to reach it?
If you don't have the strength then you look for a buoyancy aid, grit your teeth and hold on tight. Being willing to take the plunge, hoping that what you are clinging to will keep you afloat!
If you are willing to look away from yourself and the situation you are in and instead look around you, you will realise that life is full of things to help you...even other people.
The question isn't what is the meaning of life...it is how are you making your life meaningful? Are you letting life dictate you or are you going to take control over it and figure out how best to handle it?

[Annelise]

You make a really great point here. I notice that you write about this particular subject alot. As usual I was so happy to see your work in my messages and you didn't disappoint.