/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.12249429]

I'd like to have a discussion about meaning. I had read the Death of Ivan Ilyich awhile back and it set me on a path of emotional and existential destruction. I realized I have no meaning in my life and that I don't even think I know what it is, what does it look like to have meaning and be fulfilled? I began searching throughout philosophy and literature for some semblance of an answer and while I'd maybe get set on a path I think would lead me to an answer I was never satisfied. I was expecting to find some objective meaning to life and then I would be happy.
In my research I guess you could call it, I think I've found that meaning is different for everyone, perhaps there can be no universal truth? Perhaps I've found meaning myself, not sure, and even if so achieving it seems unlikely.
However, I'd like to hear what you all specifically believe to be meaningful to you. Do you feel fulfilled? Does your life have meaning? Did you find it through books? Or are you lost as I am?

[Anonymous No.12249604]

>>12249429
Why seek meaning or fulfillment ? Do things you like and enjoy. Love and Hate. Be free and then just fucking die.

[Anonymous No.12249623]

I expect to find meaning in books. I seek the one thing, the one truth that will set me into motion. I perfectly know there is no such thing so I kinda lost the will to read. I don't want my current self to crystallise so I hope to find some solution, the one insight that will give me clarity.

You don't find meaning in books. I don't think you find meaning in a passion. Maybe meaning is simply a state. For some, meaning is all about "grinding and chasing dough", for others it's just pursuing art, a passion or just faith.

It's always, "when I have this, it will be fine", maybe it actually is. Like some sort of trigger.

I guess I'm afraid of the final lesson I'll learn on my last moments. In a way, we all want to live and experience things ,but some of us don't even know what it means to live and how to actually live a life. I probably never made peace with anything.

[Anonymous No.12249763]

>>12249604
>Maybe meaning is simply a state.
I used to think about this with love. I thought love was a state of being, a finish line to cross and once you do cross it you're happy and it's good. So with girls I would quickly "fall in love" with them. Instantly become attached. Say I love you to them within a month in a manipulative way that would ensure me getting an I love you back.
And the state of love would work for a little, I'd be happy in the honeymoon stage for a month or two, then my so called love would wither away into complacency and boredom. I'd lose interest in seeing them and stop caring. So it's no surprise pretty much all my gfs have cheated on me and I didn't really care.

It wasn't until I read Stoner and there was something said about how he realized love isn't a state of being but rather a process in which one attempts to understand another. This made me realize I was never actually interested in any particular girl I'd been with. The specific individual mattered little compared to just being in love with an individual. I never cared to learn more about them and usually loathed talking with them about anything other than surface level things.

Maybe that process of love would bring me fulfillment. Maybe meaning and love are linked together in some way. But I'm unsure if just because I realize this that I even have the capacity to achieve it.

[Anonymous No.12249765]

>>12249763
whoops, meant to quote >>12249623

[Anonymous No.12250111]

>>12249763
I thought about it, love would definitely help me grow, but I became used of being on the sidelines and kinda observing. I would rather seek truth and a pattern that way rather than experiencing. I don't like being in the moment. I think I romanticized the idea of love. It's not the individual, it's the notion itself.

[Anonymous No.12250136]

>>12249429
Simply put, life has no meaning so you need to give it a meaning.
You decide what your meaning shall be. Everyone has done this passively or actively. Or you actively or even passively don't give it a meaning and you end up unhappy.

It could be to collect anime bodypillows, to have perverted gay sex orgies, to read books and extend your knowledge, to have plants/animals/people/children and tend to them, see how they react with over time, to get religious and live a religious live. It can be literally everything.

I used to be depressed and feel empty until I found something that satisfies my currently and gives me an outlook into the future. Once I realized that this thing was doing that, I expended upon it and knew what I had to look for in my life to be fulfilled.

Anyone prove me wrong, the meaning of your life is simply what you make it out to be.

[Anonymous No.12250190]

>>12250136
This is mostly how I feel. I guess it's sort of existentialist.

There is no objective meaning. You can be perfectly fulfilled embracing and dedicating your life to religion. In the same way you could feel equal satisfaction writing a rambling diary that nobody will ever read.

I think some things are more universally accepted, so you might feel some satisfaction knowing your "thing" is something that others agree is a worthy object of existence.

For me personally, I've found Love to be the most rewarding and fulfilling. To love and be loved makes me feel better than anything else. But before i fell in love (she no longer loves me) I was perfectly satisfied immersing myself in reading and writing.

So i guess my advice to OP would be to spread out your daily activity. Really throw yourself into a lot of different things. Because there is no set standard meaning to life. But you will find something worthy to dedicate everything to. Just don't stop looking, you will know when you find it.

[Anonymous No.12250260]

>>12249429
You will not find meaning in philosophy. Life is meaningless without religion.