I don’t like to get into semantics much,
as I have been with too many people . . .
wannabe lawyers mostly,
and those who must always be right,
who like to argue the finer points.
To me
it’s not worth the effort
or the dissatisfaction afterwards,
like a bad taste in the mouth.
I do believe there is meaning in everything we
think, see, hear, and do though,
even if the meaning seems so trivial
as to not be noticed.
I believe the same thing of purpose,
which is perhaps performed with more consciousness.
Someone
has called it the ‘Butterfly Effect’,
the analogy of which
appeals to my sense of the ethereal.
Everything we do
changes the existence of something else,
even if it is in only some small way,
and I can easily make myself crazy
when I dig too deeply into that.
It is perhaps
one path
towards being a conspiracy theorist.
I don’t know.
I am pretty much wide awake,
and live my days
feeling that everything I do
contributes to what happens tomorrow,
one way or the other.
If I’m in a hurry
and leave a drinking glass on the counter,
often,
by tomorrow,
the counter will have ten or fifteen other things on it
that don’t belong there,
sometimes including ants.
If I put the glass in the sink,
or better yet
wash it out,
chances are
other things,
including ants,
won’t find themselves filling up the space.
My ‘signature’
on another account I have is
”everything counts,”
because I think
that no matter what we put into the world,
either positive or negative
counts,
one way or the other,
and my intention
at the very core of my being,
whether it be purpose or something of meaning
is to somehow
make the world a better place
for my being here,
even if only
for a very short time. ♥
I believe that everything counts, too. And also in the butterfly effect! Sometimes when I guide my students into a seated butterfly pose, I will tell them to flap their wings and spread good energy out into the world 🦋
I am not sure I will ever be done thinking about this one…
My life’s meaning is a pure gift of being – of countless experiences: of breath and of participation in our earthly home.
My life’s purpose is the path I choose to walk, the choices I make on how to participate with this gift…those are my thoughts for now at least.
An interesting question to ponder, especially in the pursuit of any new activity or quest. Shall I invest my time, energy, money in said endeavor? Perhaps to ask the questions – well, what is its purpose? And what is it’s meaning? And how do either of those align with my own? My purpose in gardening is to grow plants in my garden that provide meaning (fulfillment, joy, peace, relationships). They seem to go hand in hand. But too often I have focused on one or the other, and that’s where I get sidetracked, I think. I once tried to learn to play guitar. The purpose was to be able to accompany youth groups in singing. But there was not meaning for me in it…at least not enough to make me practice, work hard, and get better. Does this make sense?
“Play has no purpose, only meaning. And there is no end to meaning. Once we open our eyes to this, we won’t be concerned with “discovering the purpose of human life.” Rather, we will celebrate its meaning. “Br. David Steindl-Rast
Today’s quote and question are a reminder that we worry more about “doing” than “being.” Maybe that’s the difference between purpose and meaning. I share a meditation from my 2008 journal.
July 22, 08
I attended a conference many years ago and one of the sessions was about God wanting to play. That has become a reality to me. This word “God,” which is so loaded that many reject it, is merely a term for togetherness. Trillions of cells have agreed to cooperate, to play, to form our bodies. How awesome is that? There is nothing more real than relationship.
Jill Bolte Taylor in her book, My Stroke of Insight (pp68-69), speaks of what happened to her awareness when the left hemisphere of her brain was shut down by a stroke. “I shifted from the “doing-conscious” with my left brain to the “being-consciousness” of my right brain…My entire self concept shifted as I no longer perceived myself as a single, a solid, an entity with boundaries that separated me from the entities around me. I understood at the most elemental level, I was fluid…My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuitry, my right hemisphere relished in its attachment to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea.”
“Doing” consciousness or “being” consciousness remind me of what I have said for years: Am I a human doing or a human being? Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth says “Life is the dancer. We are the dance.”
Is frolicking doing or being? I expect it is both but more than anything it is choosing to let your self play. It’s what Joseph Campbell coined “following your bliss.” It’s what the poet Robert Lax termed, “becoming the person you were meant to be.”
I do believe,
dear Carol Ann,
that there is both purpose and meaning
in play.
Thank you for this wonderful reflection . . .
I am familiar
with all of the resources you mention,
including one that surprised me with its beauty,
and that was the experience of Jill Bolte Taylor.
They were all like bolts of lightning,
but Jill’s clarity was amazing to me
and I recognized EXACTLY what she was saying. ♥
Feeling stymied, so I’ll go with Victor Frankl’s ideas today. I get a sense of meaning when I am aligned my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I’m living in accordance with my values. Purpose = the small acts that I take in order to continue a meaningful life.
Meaning and purpose… they are how I measure the lake near my house. Purpose is how long the lake is, and meaning is how deep it is. Kayaking on the lake takes me from one side of the lake to the other. Diving into that lake opens my view of other life under the water. It creates a feeling of connection.
As I read Br. David’s quote this morning, I immediately disagreed with ” Play has no purpose, only meaning” I feel play’s purpose is to have fun.
Meaning = definition or outcome / learn a lesson
Purpose = show an example / have a point
both meaning and purpose can jog memories. the purpose of hurtful or sad feelings is to move on, not forgot, but learn the lesson. The meaning of those feelings is that feelings come and go like clouds. Analyze them, learn, and let go.
Having been a string-puller before, this question is easy for me. Going beyond that, I define purpose as whatever I’m trying to accomplish and meanning as what comes out of it. For example, intimacy with God is my purpose. Inner peace and security I get from that is meanning.
Water. Its purpose is to seek its level. Always moving. Seeking. No matter its form. For it has many. Liquid. Solid. Vapor. It has one meaning. LIFE. Agua es Vida.
Peace, Love & Light.
Has been for years. Long story about the compact between 7 states & the feds, developed in the 1920’s, signed in Santa Fe. Allocated more water that the river produces. Make the desert bloom and conquer the resources. Humankind at their finest, dear Sparrow.
The little Alamosa River that provides water to us is currently down to 9% of its historic average. Still not as bad as 2002, yet.
I was really touched by Brother David’s quote. I have to think on it. I think of literature: there’s really no point per se to reading (although truth be told I turn it into the purpose of filling in the gaps in my knowledge) but it is redolent of meaning.
I guess this is a tough one—I’m the first, lol. Meaning, to me, is the relevance of the external world. Nature, my family, other humans. It’s the poignancy of all sentient (a lot more is sentient than we perceive). Purpose is my reason for being here. What can I do to be awake to the meaning of all life. What can I do to make life a little better for others.
I don’t think I’ve ever been the first,
dear Avril,
think yes,
it is probably a little scary.
But your reflection
is perfectly perfect
to me . . .
thank you. ♥
Avril, we’re together on purpose. Purpose, reason, motive, and intention come from the same family. And as far as meanning goes, we align on that too. My response on “What comes out of it” and external are pretty much similar.
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I don’t like to get into semantics much,
as I have been with too many people . . .
wannabe lawyers mostly,
and those who must always be right,
who like to argue the finer points.
To me
it’s not worth the effort
or the dissatisfaction afterwards,
like a bad taste in the mouth.
I do believe there is meaning in everything we
think, see, hear, and do though,
even if the meaning seems so trivial
as to not be noticed.
I believe the same thing of purpose,
which is perhaps performed with more consciousness.
Someone
has called it the ‘Butterfly Effect’,
the analogy of which
appeals to my sense of the ethereal.
Everything we do
changes the existence of something else,
even if it is in only some small way,
and I can easily make myself crazy
when I dig too deeply into that.
It is perhaps
one path
towards being a conspiracy theorist.
I don’t know.
I am pretty much wide awake,
and live my days
feeling that everything I do
contributes to what happens tomorrow,
one way or the other.
If I’m in a hurry
and leave a drinking glass on the counter,
often,
by tomorrow,
the counter will have ten or fifteen other things on it
that don’t belong there,
sometimes including ants.
If I put the glass in the sink,
or better yet
wash it out,
chances are
other things,
including ants,
won’t find themselves filling up the space.
My ‘signature’
on another account I have is
”everything counts,”
because I think
that no matter what we put into the world,
either positive or negative
counts,
one way or the other,
and my intention
at the very core of my being,
whether it be purpose or something of meaning
is to somehow
make the world a better place
for my being here,
even if only
for a very short time. ♥
I believe that everything counts, too. And also in the butterfly effect! Sometimes when I guide my students into a seated butterfly pose, I will tell them to flap their wings and spread good energy out into the world 🦋
🙂
“everything counts,” Yes dear Sparrow, I do believe this to be truth. Thank you.
I am not sure I will ever be done thinking about this one…
My life’s meaning is a pure gift of being – of countless experiences: of breath and of participation in our earthly home.
My life’s purpose is the path I choose to walk, the choices I make on how to participate with this gift…those are my thoughts for now at least.
An interesting question to ponder, especially in the pursuit of any new activity or quest. Shall I invest my time, energy, money in said endeavor? Perhaps to ask the questions – well, what is its purpose? And what is it’s meaning? And how do either of those align with my own? My purpose in gardening is to grow plants in my garden that provide meaning (fulfillment, joy, peace, relationships). They seem to go hand in hand. But too often I have focused on one or the other, and that’s where I get sidetracked, I think. I once tried to learn to play guitar. The purpose was to be able to accompany youth groups in singing. But there was not meaning for me in it…at least not enough to make me practice, work hard, and get better. Does this make sense?
Thinking about all the aspects of this question,
dear Katrina,
can really twist a person like pretzel,
can’t they? 🙂
“Play has no purpose, only meaning. And there is no end to meaning. Once we open our eyes to this, we won’t be concerned with “discovering the purpose of human life.” Rather, we will celebrate its meaning. “Br. David Steindl-Rast
Today’s quote and question are a reminder that we worry more about “doing” than “being.” Maybe that’s the difference between purpose and meaning. I share a meditation from my 2008 journal.
July 22, 08
I attended a conference many years ago and one of the sessions was about God wanting to play. That has become a reality to me. This word “God,” which is so loaded that many reject it, is merely a term for togetherness. Trillions of cells have agreed to cooperate, to play, to form our bodies. How awesome is that? There is nothing more real than relationship.
Jill Bolte Taylor in her book, My Stroke of Insight (pp68-69), speaks of what happened to her awareness when the left hemisphere of her brain was shut down by a stroke. “I shifted from the “doing-conscious” with my left brain to the “being-consciousness” of my right brain…My entire self concept shifted as I no longer perceived myself as a single, a solid, an entity with boundaries that separated me from the entities around me. I understood at the most elemental level, I was fluid…My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuitry, my right hemisphere relished in its attachment to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea.”
“Doing” consciousness or “being” consciousness remind me of what I have said for years: Am I a human doing or a human being? Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth says “Life is the dancer. We are the dance.”
Is frolicking doing or being? I expect it is both but more than anything it is choosing to let your self play. It’s what Joseph Campbell coined “following your bliss.” It’s what the poet Robert Lax termed, “becoming the person you were meant to be.”
❤️☀️
I do believe,
dear Carol Ann,
that there is both purpose and meaning
in play.
Thank you for this wonderful reflection . . .
I am familiar
with all of the resources you mention,
including one that surprised me with its beauty,
and that was the experience of Jill Bolte Taylor.
They were all like bolts of lightning,
but Jill’s clarity was amazing to me
and I recognized EXACTLY what she was saying. ♥
Wow!, Carol Ann. I think I like all that, but I’m going to need to read it several times to digest it. VERY COOL.
Feeling stymied, so I’ll go with Victor Frankl’s ideas today. I get a sense of meaning when I am aligned my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I’m living in accordance with my values. Purpose = the small acts that I take in order to continue a meaningful life.
Meaning and purpose… they are how I measure the lake near my house. Purpose is how long the lake is, and meaning is how deep it is. Kayaking on the lake takes me from one side of the lake to the other. Diving into that lake opens my view of other life under the water. It creates a feeling of connection.
My Ngoc, hopefully, the water levels are compatible for that this year.
As I read Br. David’s quote this morning, I immediately disagreed with ” Play has no purpose, only meaning” I feel play’s purpose is to have fun.
Meaning = definition or outcome / learn a lesson
Purpose = show an example / have a point
both meaning and purpose can jog memories. the purpose of hurtful or sad feelings is to move on, not forgot, but learn the lesson. The meaning of those feelings is that feelings come and go like clouds. Analyze them, learn, and let go.
https://nationaltoday.com/air-conditioning-appreciation-day/
I certainly appreciate my air conditioner today,
dear Michele. 🙂
Having been a string-puller before, this question is easy for me. Going beyond that, I define purpose as whatever I’m trying to accomplish and meanning as what comes out of it. For example, intimacy with God is my purpose. Inner peace and security I get from that is meanning.
“Purpose is whatever I’m trying to accomplish and meanning is what comes out of it.” I like this a lot.
Water. Its purpose is to seek its level. Always moving. Seeking. No matter its form. For it has many. Liquid. Solid. Vapor. It has one meaning. LIFE. Agua es Vida.
Peace, Love & Light.
You are so right,
dear Joseph . . .
water
is what is what it is,
in whatever form it takes.
Water is Life. ♥
ps. I hear that the mighty Colorado River
is in danger.
Has been for years. Long story about the compact between 7 states & the feds, developed in the 1920’s, signed in Santa Fe. Allocated more water that the river produces. Make the desert bloom and conquer the resources. Humankind at their finest, dear Sparrow.
The little Alamosa River that provides water to us is currently down to 9% of its historic average. Still not as bad as 2002, yet.
Beautifully said, Joseph. Thank you.
Dear Joseph this is beautiful thank you . I’m going to rest here and pray at the doctors office getting an iv of helpful water . 💦
I was really touched by Brother David’s quote. I have to think on it. I think of literature: there’s really no point per se to reading (although truth be told I turn it into the purpose of filling in the gaps in my knowledge) but it is redolent of meaning.
You are not wasting your time
in reading,
dear Christina . . .
this I know. ♥
I guess this is a tough one—I’m the first, lol. Meaning, to me, is the relevance of the external world. Nature, my family, other humans. It’s the poignancy of all sentient (a lot more is sentient than we perceive). Purpose is my reason for being here. What can I do to be awake to the meaning of all life. What can I do to make life a little better for others.
I don’t think I’ve ever been the first,
dear Avril,
think yes,
it is probably a little scary.
But your reflection
is perfectly perfect
to me . . .
thank you. ♥
love this!
Avril, we’re together on purpose. Purpose, reason, motive, and intention come from the same family. And as far as meanning goes, we align on that too. My response on “What comes out of it” and external are pretty much similar.