Hope was the last thing Pandora let out of her box. Commanded by Zeus that after all of the evil, plagues, and pestilence that the last thing that Zeus gave to man was hope to prolong his suffering and to ensure that he was always chasing things he could never achieve.

It's true, most people want meaning to chance upon them, fall into their laps, so they can wave it to the world. I agree with Brett too, most people think that meaning = easy, when in fact it is just a reason to keep living and doing what you've been doing (or do something more interesting). I would place blame on the ego. The ego wants instant gratification. If the ego sees another happy person full of meaning, the ego wants it too, thinking their lives will be complete once meaning has been discovered. But no, the journey continues onward, to new paths and new thoughts and new experiences. And then, meaning can morph and become something new and different.

Hi Ashley, this is kind of true by meaning is emotion. When I went to the temple that was by my house and prayed, I felt a sense of emotion that was very peaceful and serene. I'm pretty sure that the people next to me also felt the same kind of peaceful feeling with me. I think people's religion, whether it's Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, or other, give them a sense of meaning through connecting with a force outside of themselves, and they can definitely feel this connection through emotion as well.

But like you say, meaning doesn't have to just come from a religion; it can come from anything that gives us emotion. Writing would be one example. I think it's something that all of us here can relate to. The more we explore what we can say, the more meaning we get from it, the more emotion we feel, and as a result, it becomes sort of like a “religion” itself because we become so devoted to it.

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, said, “I believe that – if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression – that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns. I made a vow to writing, very young. I became Bride-of-Writing. I was writing's most devotional handmaiden. I built my entire life around writing. I didn't know how else to do this.”

Thanks for the post Ashley. Keep up the good work!

I think you're selling the meaning question short by comparing it to religion. One of the main points of religion is to attempt to supply an answer to that very question. It serves to help people deal with the possible truth that there is no such thing as “meaning” to their lives, and tries to provide a meaning. Religion, Patriotism, leaving a legacy: all attempts to answer the question of the meaning of life and to cope with the fact that everyone of us is going to die. I believe you are onto it when you say it is personal to each of us.

The “Meaning of Life” is the higher riddle that nobody has ever truly solved, though there is no shortage of people who will tell you otherwise. It is also one of the funnier of the Monty Python films, but that wasn't really where you were going.

I don't think the idea of trying to find meaning in our lives is anything new, just “new and improved.” One catechism answers the question, “What is the meaning of life” with “to serve God.” People from the beginning of time have been trying to figure out what this thing is all about. Some say it is all about pleasure, some say giving to others.

My personal view, not to be confused with fact, is that we are all here to be the reflection of the Infinite in the best way we can. For you that means words, written, spoken, whatever. For someone else, something different.

I agree with Andrew that we need to make sure that the emotions, feelings, goals, whatever you want to call them, that drive us are indeed ours. We cannot be someone else's reflection. As the not so old saying goes, why not be yourself, everybody else is taken.

I'm with you on the feeling as a goal part, but we diverge toward the end.

“As it turns out, feelings are running this crazy, crazy world of ours.”

I'm actually with you on that point too, but the next paragraph is problematic…

“Not just individual feelings, but collective feelings as well. It’s precisely how societies are formed, with their expectations and cultural norms; the group, as a whole, shares a general feeling toward something, and as a result, that something ends up representing great meaning for a society.”

Societies, and all of their accouterments, are formed based on the feelings of the powerful. The potential problems with that in itself would be bad enough, but it's much much worse. The controlling power structures are also aware that emotion is running “things”. Unfortunately, these “things” are often people that are being run by emotion, rather than for emotion.

So I guess I'd just add to your main point by saying that… while chasing superficial objects is a hollow goal, it's just as important to make sure our emotions really are our emotions and not superficial artifacts of manipulation. Emotional manipulation is easy and much more powerful than material and/or logical desires so this is of no small importance.