[Alfred Guart]

To discover the meaning of life, you compare your circumstances at birth with where you are today. Map the common rites of passage, which forms a trajectory.

[ASG]

There is a poem I love by Mary Oliver called “Wild Geese,” which ends by saying:

“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”

I often wonder what it means to find my place in that family, and I find the question deeply connected to how I think about the meaning of life.
Everything on this planet seems so deliberate, symbiotic, and interconnected– the geese migrating, the salmon swimming upstream. For them, that movement is their purpose: to cycle through the creation of life and death. So I ask myself: what is my migratory path? What is my defining battle? What is my role among all the other living beings? And sometimes, why am I human? My creation was as intentional as the bird’s, so why wasn’t I given the ability to fly, but instead the ability to innovate and philosophize? How should I best make use of these gifts to achieve a collective purpose?

I, of course, am still in the process of answering these questions for myself but I have found that Living among nature, watching other animals fulfill their purpose so naturally, has brought me closer to understanding my own raison d’être.

[Alfred Guart]

Thanks for your thoughtful post!

You can’t go wrong looking to nature for guidance. It has served me well. As to the question of purpose, I have found there is a personal one based on our particular gifts. So we have great orators, musicians, engineers, nurturers and so son. People find meaning in those pursuits, a reason to live. However, these activities can end at any time due to forces beyond our control. Also, history is filled with people who succeeded in one area of life but otherwise struggled with addiction and personal tragedy.

There is another purpose which we share as humans. It is not dependent on individual gifts and cannot be taken away by forces we do not control. This purpose infuses all aspects of our lives, not just one area. Stay close to nature and it will be shown to you.

All the best!

[Author]

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