Hey everyone, Het here.
You know that feeling sometimes? Like you’re looking for the point of it all? Especially these days, with everything moving so fast, phones constantly buzzing, endless things to scroll through. As someone who spends a lot of time in tech – a world obsessed with logic and finding answers – I also think a lot about those bigger, fuzzier life questions. And there’s one particular idea I’ve been mulling over that feels strangely relevant.
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It’s Like Asking “Why?” into an Empty Room
Basically, the idea goes like this: We humans seem hardwired to look for meaning. We want to know why things are the way they are, what our purpose is, how everything fits together. We build amazing things, learn incredible stuff, all trying to figure it out.
But… what if the universe itself doesn’t really have a neat, pre-packaged answer waiting for us? What if we ask “What’s the meaning of life?” and all we get back is… silence?
It’s not necessarily that life is meaningless in a bad way. It’s more about that weird mismatch: our deep need for answers versus a world that doesn’t seem obligated to provide them. It’s like shouting a really important question into a huge canyon and just hearing your own voice echo back. Kind of awkward, right? This clash, this feeling, is sometimes called the Absurd.
Does Modern Life Make This Feeling Stronger?
I definitely see this tension in our daily lives now. We’re drowning in information but maybe not wisdom. We’re supposedly more connected than ever through technology, but sometimes feel more alone. We optimize our schedules and track our habits, trying to build a ‘meaningful’ life according to some blueprint, but often just feel like we’re spinning our wheels.
We see perfectly polished lives online and compare them to our own messy reality. We build incredible tools and systems, but those basic human questions – “Am I doing this right?”, “What really matters?” – don’t just disappear. It can feel a bit strange, this constant hustle for something solid in a world that often feels confusing and unpredictable.
So, Is It Hopeless? (Definitely Not!)
Here’s where it gets interesting and, honestly, kind of freeing. If you accept that maybe there isn’t one big, official “Meaning of Life” handed down from somewhere… what happens?
You might think that sounds depressing, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be the opposite. If there’s no single, correct script everyone has to follow, it means a few cool things:
- You Keep Going Anyway: You don’t just give up because there’s no cosmic gold star. You choose to live, experience, create, connect, and try things because you decide it’s worthwhile. It’s like saying “Okay, world, you might be confusing, but I’m still going to live my life fully.”
- You’re Actually Super Free: If there’s no set path you must take, then YOU get to choose what you value. You decide what projects matter, what relationships are important, what ‘success’ looks like for you. That’s huge freedom.
- You Appreciate the ‘Now’ More: Because this life is what we know we have, and there isn’t necessarily some grand purpose waiting at the end, the moments right now become way more important. The experiences, the people, the small joys – they matter because they’re happening now.
Finding My Own ‘Good Stuff’
Think about that old story of the guy (Sisyphus) who had to push a giant rock up a hill forever, only for it to roll back down each time. Sounds awful, right? But the point some people make is that maybe he found meaning in the pushing itself.
He accepted his task and chose to do it with all his effort, finding satisfaction in the struggle, not waiting for a different outcome.
For me, working in cybersecurity, I can relate. Maybe the “point” isn’t about achieving perfect security because no system is ever truly unbreakable. New threats emerge, vulnerabilities are discovered, and what’s secure today might be compromised tomorrow. Maybe the real value is in the process: identifying risks, thinking like an attacker, collaborating with teammates, learning new techniques, and the satisfaction of closing a security gap, even if it’s just for now. Because in this field, nothing stays secure forever, but the effort still matters.
It’s the same outside of work. Finding meaning might just be about focusing on the concrete things that feel good and worthwhile to you: having a great conversation, learning a new skill, helping someone out, getting lost in a good book, enjoying a chai, building strong relationships.
Wrapping Up
So, maybe the trick isn’t about finding the single, capital-M Meaning of Life. Maybe it’s about realizing there probably isn’t one, and that’s okay! It frees us up to create our own meaning, day by day, through the things we choose to do, the way we choose to face challenges, and the stuff we choose to appreciate.
It’s about looking at the confusing, amazing world, shrugging off the need for one perfect answer, and focusing on pushing your own ‘boulder’ – whatever that means for you – with energy and finding your own kind of satisfaction in it.
What feels meaningful for you today?