Life\'s Meaning for Centuries Humans

¶ … Life's Meaning

For centuries humans have tried to make sense of the meaning of life. We have evidence that the Neanderthal culture had a semblance of this in their burial rituals; flowers, clothing, food and decorations for the departed (Jordan, 2001, 33-56). Certainly, cultures in the Ancient World from the Sumerians on wrote about the meaning of life; constructed archetypal stories, myths, legends and patterns of thought (whether philosophical or religious) to attempt to understand why we as individuals were born, why we life, and what the purpose of our lives can be. If we study art and literature through the ages, we certainly find a number of answers from divergent groups. Epitomizing the notion of romanticism, for instance, we have poets such as Wordsworth noting, "Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher," implying that we, like all living things, are a part of a grander scheme -- whether we understand it or not (O'Neill and Mahoney, eds., 2007, 73-6). Others, Sartre for instance, taking up a rather Marxian notion, decided that through existentialism, humans are "condemned to be free," and we must not look outward for a reason to be, but "left alone, without excuse," and inward (Sartre, 2009). Still others focus on the divine, a Supreme Being who, like a parental figure, has a plan for us; rather than the blind watchmaker, the involved guru, "God is the only way one's deepest needs in life can be met… Therefore, spiritually dead human beings will never meet their deepest needs and are forever trying to fill the void" (Cosgrove, 2006, 146).

One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture -- regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe that there is perhaps more to myth and ritual than simple repetition of archetypal themes. In a sense, then, to acculturize the future, we must re-craft the past, and the way that seems to happen is in the synergism of myth and ritual as expressed in a variety of forms (Bittarello, 2008).

In my own case, and possibly because I am on the upper mid-range of life (I am sixty), I tend to look less at the material and more at the emotional and intangible as concepts for meaning and success. I am the founder and owner of a 25-year-old vocational school and still lecture daily. I have been married to the woman of my dreams for almost 40 years; have two children and two grandchildren. We are building a second home on a lakefront about an hour from the school with the plan that I will lecture for three days and spend four days per week at the lake. Certainly, the school and tangible income has allowed us to be comfortable and educate our children, as well as put away a bit for the future. However, when I reflect, what I really find as "meaning" is the way in which, in some small manner, we have helped transform the lives of so many students who are now successful businessmen and women, who have families, and who are continuing with some of the ethical and moral principles engrained at school. The future, for my wife and I, is bright, and we are confident that a part of us remains inside our children, passed on to the grandchildren, and therefore preserving a paradigm in which the experiences of the past build together to form a new, and ever evolving, future. I must admit that I disagree with Erikson, not in principle, but in practice. He sees an individual my age in upper middle adulthood, shortly away from either wisdom or despair (Wilder, 2003). In the contemporary world, though, I would respectfully disagree. The age of 60 is certainly an adult role, certainly one has four decades or so of solid experience, but in fact, we are far from stagnation or despair. My continual involvement, in fact, with young people helps me stay in touch and in-tune, and hopefully the wisdom I impart can help them through some of life's challenges. All in all -- I remain optimistic about the future. I have certainly been involved in enough trends the past decades to know that what rises also falls, and the reverse. Life is what we make it -- I choose to believe the cup is always half-full, and if not, it is time to put more liquid into the pot!