Interestingly, if you are suffering from some kind of problem with meaning in life try to find somethings bright and beautiful.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-new-dimension-to-a-meaningful-life/

Makes me wax poetic.

Wonder in a glass of water
Awe in the sky
Electricity from the tickle
Of a blade of grass
And sensual shock
As the sun hits my eye

A seed that I planted, germinating and growing into a crop that supported my family. It's a farmer thing.

The Mormon plant a seed of faith pales in comparison. Too bad many farmers fell for Joe and co.

My children--all of whom show me that they love me.

I don't know that anything gives meaning to my life right now.
This seems like an abstract concept and I don'tknow how to answer it

It is the opposite of abstract. Read the article. The point was something beautiful to you can...

I don't know if depression, obsession, or miscommunication is at play with you here.

Seeing animals in the wild.

Writing songs and creating music.

Feeling the warmth of a sunny day.

Watching movies by the fireplace on a rainy day.

Smelling the honeysuckle wafting across the yard in summer.

Snuggling with my wife in bed.

Cooking and sharing food.

A nice cold beer.

Doing home improvements and decorating.

Cutting the grass.

Having a burn pile.

Paddling a kayak.

Eating a cheeseburger.

Can't do much better than that definition!

Thanks! Having a rousing "discussion" with you, S-Cat and EOD is right up there too!

Seriously, my particulars would differ in some areas but your approach to life and meaning strikes me as idiosyncratically perfect--as each person's should.

I mean, they leave me yawning but who would begrudge our beloved Jesus the hydraulic lift kits with which he tricked out his low rider, his collection of bolo ties, or his Neiman Marcus mustache trimmers?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2022 07:36PM by Lot's Wife.

Quintessence.

Oh, I forgot another one....listening to children play, laughing, squealing with delight, oblivious to anything else around them. Truly one of my favorite sounds.

The peace of an undisturbed child is truly a marvelous work and a wonder.

on a rainy day, I had something brighten my life in a huge way. I really needed it.

My dogs give me so much. I don't know how I'd live without them.

My kids are a part of me. Difficult as it can be sometimes to be a parent.

I like what Lethbridge Retrobate said. That would be my dad and grandfathers. I hated the farm and now I miss it. I have farm things all over my house now. My daughter finds them and gives them to me. I even have a picture of a cow. It was a "hard" life, but it was fulfilling, too. You can't describe being a farmer's daughter.


Now, wait a minute, where is Done & Done. Did he go with elderolddog?

Always look on the bright side of life.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M

I've been a little low on meaning lately. But this has helped:

I have a little 6 y/o granddaughter known as Peanut, who lives quite a ways away. She has a new baby brother whom she adores. Her demeanor toward him lacks jealousy or resentment, even though his striking appearance gets him the attention that she used to get. She says she's his biggest fan.

Not everyone has a good sister.

But she is, and I don't think that will change.

I have wanted to do something wonderful for her. I found an old dollhouse with lots of accompanying dolls. I've been able to replace the missing ones that were given in McDonald's Happy Meals many years ago (thank you, eBay).

I want to say, "This is for you, Peanut, because not everyone has a sister like you. When Bro is older, you know he'll rip the head off one, but don't worry."

That is so cool Kathleen. You will be able to find cute little things for it going forward too. It seems like you go from buying remote control spiders and Easy Bake Ovens to accessories for their cars in a blink of an eye.

I am sure my answer to this will come as a big surprise. DOGS!

Yes, DOGS!!

Where would human beings be without dogs?

Dogs are the only reason I want my own planet. :D

What no cats? Ducks? Where is Beth?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2022 01:32PM by Elder Berry.

Being creative.

Knowing that this is all we get!

Compared to before we were born it is a lot.

Knowing that I am loved by my children, my grandchildren and my girlfriend.

Love.
For my life.
All life.
Consciousness,
Which is the greatest miracle in the universe, that we exist in this perfectly balanced liquid filled rock with a molten center, swirling around like a liquid gyroscopic electro magnetic ball of space dust we all grew out of.

We had it upside down the whole time,
There is not only a liquid hell below us,
Out side above ‘heaven’ is outer space, a frozen hell of Gamma Rays and Plasma.
The only place that is habitable, long term, is in between
WithIn this very thin magnetopshere membrane, between the fiery hell below us and the frozen hell above us.
In this Goldilocks world.
I find meaning inherent in nature.
The music of the spheres, Fibonacci series, fractals, cruciferous vegetables, which I eat every day, C60 Carbon molecules, e=mc^2, Roger Penrose’s Road To Reality, Hawking’s Brief Answers to Life’s Big Questions”, the architecture and engineering of viruses, it’s everywhere you look around you. Look at how bees make honeycomb. How viruses are the most ancient forms of DNA but they are not even alive.
and turning my kids and grandkids onto the beauty of nature, the imagination and life.

Having grown up in the desert, and having chosen to live in it as an adult, there is an experience that I don't often get to immerse in, but one that gives me more meaning than I know how to explain; a sense of integration with reality that fills me with satisfaction, every time I witness it:

Standing on a small cliff, with the immensity of the ocean in front and a rocky shore below, the sky gray, and mist surrounding everything, bringing the smell of salty decay; the water swirling between the rocks, dark with white on top, not too angry, but not calm, crashing against everything with a rumbling sound not approximated by anything in the still desert to which I am accustomed.

Wonderful juxtaposition. Life beats and often beats out tears sometimes of joy to wet a dry place...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2022 10:55AM by Elder Berry.

QAnon star Cirsten Weldon, who said only idiots get vaccinated,... and called for Dr. Fauci to be executed,... has died of Covid.

"What cheers me up? I suppose mainly gloating over the misfortunes of other people. Yes, I guess that has to be it. Mainly, crowing over the misery of others. It doesn‘t always work, but it never completely fails."

-Christopher Hitchens

Oddly, indirectly COVID gives you meaning in life.

*Pursuing good health, trying new vegetables, different whole grains. A goal to last a lifetime.

*Enjoying early retirement. Keeping the house clean, growing a garden, observing Nature, volunteering.

*Practicing gratitude. Life is so short, it just makes sense to appreciate it the best I can.

*Reading, reading, and more reading. Oh, did I mention reading?

Interesting. I like this.