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Everywhere one seeks to
produce meaning, to make the world signify, to render it visible. We are not,
however, in danger of lacking meaning; quite the contrary, we are gorged with
meaning and it is killing us.
Jean Baudrillard
Meaning can be explained in various ways:
 |  Meaning is a quality which signifies that an object is important in ways that
cannot be fully explained in terms of functionality. A hammer is simply a
functional object that has no meaning. This hammer can have meaning however, if
it was given to us by a beloved relative, or it is an antique, or it was used on
our first job during adolescence. |
| Meaning is a quality that evokes particular feelings such as awe, reverence,
respect, devotion, care, concern, or cherishing. |
| Meaning is a quality that we ascribe to something we value. If something is
meaningful to us, we value it. The word's synonyms include significance and
importance. |
Developing our sense of meaning.
The benefits of meaning.
| Meaning gives guidance.
 | Meaning grants context and continuity. Meaning is a central theme, from
which our life makes sense. Our individual activities and goals are not random
occurrences. They are extensions from this theme. |
| Meaning grants strength. If our lives have meaning, we can
experience peace and courage even when we are struggling and suffering. |
| Meaning grants satisfaction. When we are performing a meaningful
activity, the activity itself is emotionally rewarding, even if the results
are not perfect, "we fought the good fight." |
|
Techniques for exploring meaning.
| Design-work: When we encounter things that are meaningful to us,
we can cultivate energy tones such as love, affection, fondness, awe, or
cherishing.
| Affirmation. "Life has meaning." "I enjoy finding the
personal meaning in things." "I take care of the things that are
meaningful to me." |
| Directed imagination. We can visualize ourselves tenderly caring for
something that has meaning to us. |
| Modeling. When we
discern the meaningful things in our life, we can pattern our selves after a
person who cares for those things, and thereby growing them into a substantial
part of our life. |
|
| Intuition. |
| We can make a list of the things that are meaningful to us. What
do we care about? What is most satisfying in our life? What causes the most
happiness? What is in our daydreams and fantasies? What are our aspirations?
What were our goals when we were children? |
| We can discriminate between our own meaning and the meaning that is presented
by external forces. Many people try to tell us what should be
important to us. Those people include parents, religious leaders, politicians,
the media, celebrities, and advertisers. Meaning is a very intimate matter based
upon our own feelings and intuition.
The world is not to be put in order;
the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order.
Henry Miller |
Next topic: Values |
