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PHILOSOPHY
The Secret To Life Is Not Taking It So Seriously
The search for meaning in life is a fool’s errand and a recipe for unhappiness and disillusionment
“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
There is something about age and experience that shines a powerful light on the absurdity of life. It’s as if, after enough trips around the sun, we begin to see patterns of history repeating itself, and it begins to dawn on us how absurd it all is.
The notion that there is any deeper meaning amidst all the pain, suffering, inequality, and capriciousness of life, is like looking for patterns in the sand, or shapes in the clouds. If you’re looking for them, you will likely find them, but they don’t mean anything.
For a while, in our fifties, most of us struggle with what it all means. Eventually, we realize there are no answers. What you see is what you get. There isn’t anything else. We find ourselves looking into the abyss and, at some point, we realize there is nothing looking back. It’s a terrifying, lonely moment.
