Meaning of Life Miniature

Dear Mr. Supposed Philosopher:

{ Audio this essay @ 1MB @ 2min }I had this really great weekend almost completely devoid of anything of any worth or lastin' meanin'.

Essentially I just hung around with friends all weekend, hittin' junkshops, drinkin', watchin' movies, drinkin', drivin' the scenic route around the state, and drinkin'.

That resulted in some minor Monday Mornin' Contemplation along the lines of "What should one be doin' with one's life anyway???"

But fortunately the clouds were super swell today and I let any thoughts of lost life drift off. Yet a friend of mine said that she too had "been contemplating the same stuff."

What the hell would it have mattered if I'd asked your opinion on all this?

Signed,

Partyin' Dog in Washington


Dear Mr. Pissin'-it-away:

Is the meaning of life determined by some ultimate goal toward which one must move, or in the small, short-term goals which one achieves decision by decision and, subsequently, reaps the benefit of? In terms of choice and execution of action, these are the two most straight-forward options .

On the other hand, perhaps it is not merely our choices and actions which give life meaning, but some relationship with The Transcendent (God, The Tao, Love, etc.) Of course the transcendent might very well *be* the ultimate (and prudent) goal toward which one's choices and actions should move; this is to say that a full relationship with The Transcendent might *be* the ideal toward which humans would chose, were they to know how to attain the object of such an ideal. But an informed judgement on The Transcendent is very difficult, of course, as there are too many who presume to have both the proper object and the proper way to achieve such an object of choice.

However, in light of the difficulty in deciding upon such metaphysical matters, most people often just hang-out in bars and drink. But at least they talk about such matters after a few rounds, for it beats saying nothing -- which by such silence would be a tacit admission that sitting around in a bar and being pleasantly buzzed is the best one could reasonably expect from life. However, many find pharmacological hedonism unsatisfying.

O.