30 November 2011
Ignore The Existential, Pay The Price
There's a clear cultural focus on developing functional thinking, thinking that needs to solve problems, create outcomes and move forward. We've learned to neglect the existential which asks uncomfortable questions like 'who am I', 'why am I here', 'where did we come from', 'what is the point' and more specifically 'what is the point of me'?
There's the irrational belief that we can ignore or placate the existential with archaic dogma, but we can't. At some point these unanswered questions become the reason, regardless of our professional or material success, we get stuck. And stuck is always going to feel deeply uncomfortable causing frustration, depression and anger and besides our own mental well being, others pay the price.
There is the naive belief that to inquire into the existential ultimately leads to the narrow ideology of organised religeon, which is doesn't.
Sure we're a zillion miles from knowing everything but we know enough to engage in intelligent, meaningful and rewarding existential conversations. Conversations that get us moving forward with clarity, vision and newfound purpose.
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Yes, it is foolish to ignore questions which make us toxic to others. While I lost my religion in the process of thoughtful contemplation, what made sense to me was in a nutshell 'will my contribution make a difference?' and moment by moment I believe it does. That makes real sense to me, and with the understanding came the peace and the joy that I had searched for in religion.
ReplyDeleteYes, nicely put, thx. A job satisfies meaning and happiness to a point, a career satisfies the need for recognition to a point. A calling satisfies our need for contribution and making a difference, and it's at this point that work becomes spiritual, in a manner of speaking.
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