On Hope, Wonder, and Searching for Life's Meaning

Presley Baker

(TW: This post deals briefly with the topic of suicide; if this topic is distressing for any of you, feel free to skip right past this post.)

IS LIFE WORTH LIVING?

This is the question that haunts the narrative of Chapter 6 of Sick Souls, Healthy Minds by John Kaag. While walking to the Brooklyn Bridge, Kaag is confronted by a sign that states "LIFE IS WORTH LIVING" (pictured below). Kaag goes on to explain that the Brooklyn Bridge is the marker of many peoples' final moments, and this sign is meant to be a reminder of the preciousness of life. This sign caused Kaag to linger on William James' idea on this matter, and he rephrases the statement- "LIFE IS WORTH LIVING-MAYBE". As per the Jamesian philosophy, meaning is ascribed by the "live-r" of the life. None of us can give someone else's life meaning, but we can try to drive them to believe their life holds some inherent meaning. 

(Apologies for the quality, this was the best image I could find)

This is the most beautiful, and conversely, the scariest part of life. We define our own life's meaning. We have the free will to make the decisions that create our own legacy. Free will is both wonderful and terrifying. Our decisions are nothing but our own, and so are the consequences of them. 

While I see where James and Kaag are coming from, I can't help but disagree with the "maybe". Though it's meant to be comforting, I personally find it to be distressing. I'm not gonna go into the deep specifics on my life, but to summarize, I have been at these low points where life seems so bleak that I am at a loss on how to continue. And yet, I found that I had slowly built a life with so much meaning that I simply cannot imagine it ending at any chosen moment. That's exactly where hope comes into play.

HOPE

"Hope is what keeps our spirit alive."- Me (I think)

Kaag speaks at length about the ripple effect of life. If you toss a rock into a lake, it doesn't just disappear without a trace. Instead, the lake's surface ripples from the momentum of the rocks force. Our lives have the same effect. No one can live without having some kind of impact, whether good or bad. I find this to be a hopeful statement. You cannot live without making an impact on others, so strive to make it a good one! You will have a legacy! You will not be easily forgotten!

There is so much beauty in this world. I will never be able to stress this point enough. My advice to someone who feels like they need a break from life: GO OUTSIDE! Every single time I need to clear my head, I simply go outside, and sit in the sun, or walk somewhere in nature. Something about getting outside, feeling the sun on your skin, and being able to hear the birds sing truly is restorative for the soul. Take note of the animals in particular. Their lives are so much less comfortable than ours, and yet they still persist in their habitats. Below I have added an image of Zion National Park, which is my personal favorite national park. Being outside has always helped to clear my anxious, racing mind.

WONDER

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as

dead; his eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein

Wonder is such a strangely "wonder"-ful thing. When we are young, so many of us chase after our wonder, looking at the world with such joyfully big eyes. In the busy-ness of our current world, it can be hard to keep that creative, wondrous spark that we are all born with. We are told that, in order to mature, we have to "grow up", and adapt to adult life. But growing up should not mean losing our spark. 

Another thing that is hurting our wonder is the inability to be bored. I noticed that this wasn't something that Kaag discussed in terms of wonder, but I find it to be one of the most detrimental problems affecting our sense of wonder. We are constantly surrounded by stimulation, screens, and just noise. This noise makes it almost impossible to just sit with our thoughts. In order to have wonder, we need to just sit with ourselves. No distractions. No noise. No getting away from our own minds. Nothing to draw our attention away from the world in front of us, no screens filling our brains with information (or misinformation) that we don't need. Now I'm not saying we should all toss our phones into a lake (take that, ripple effect!), but it is becoming harder and harder to think for ourselves because of them. 

Think about it this way: if we have all the information we could ever want just one google search away, then why ever consider any of life's questions ourselves? Why read any book when Sparknotes has summary of it already? Why would we experience anything new when we could live in a bubble? Actually, why create anything when AI might be able to replicate it so much faster? 

All of these questions have been at the forefront of my mind since reading this chapter. Our world has slowly began to adapt out of wonder, which I find to be a terrifying thought. But there is hope. People have not stopped creating. Many oppose AI creating art, writings, and false information. The rate of people reading has actually increased for the first time since the creation of the phone. I think we are beginning to re-learn that a life without wonder is bleak. In fact, I would argue that a life without wonder lacks some of the meaning that we need to keep on living. 

So I ask you, reader, what makes you wonder? What makes you hope? Whatever it is, hold on to it tight, and whatever you do, don't forget about it. Life is so much brighter with that glimmer of hope, and so much more interesting with that spark of wonder.