Jacob Mitchell3 said:But how does one manufacture meaning when they find themselves incapable of seeing value in anything at all? How am I supposed to decide that my life's purpose should be, say, professional achievement, if I can't find any inherent meaning in that pursuit—or indeed, in anything else?
Regarding the concept of struggle—simply choose what is worth fighting for. 🤷 It doesn't matter whether it holds weight on a cosmic scale or within the laws of quantum mechanics; what matters is that it carries weight for you.
And what happens when nothing carries weight?
Look, in both of those scenarios, you really ought to consider seeing a therapist. It’s worth digging into why you're struggling with what might be—even if only a mild case of—depression. 🤷 The reality is this: a person's sense of purpose is entirely dictated by whatever they choose to fixate on in their life.
I don't have much to say about this one. It’s just... there. No substance, no weight. Just noise.If you can't find any sense or purpose in anything, it essentially means nothing brings you joy anymore—and that, in itself, is a textbook symptom of depression.
Because purpose is so deeply intertwined with what actually brings you joy, we run into a fundamental issue: the "meaning of life" isn't something you can solve through pure cognition alone. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the "meaning of life" can ever be defined as the total sum of a single human being's entire existence. It just doesn't work like that.
Life isn't some static thing; it’s more like a series of distinct phases we cycle through, driven by whatever specific impulses happen to be pulling our strings at the time. You can't just wake up one morning and decide, "Okay, from here on out, I’m dedicating my entire existence to finding a formula that turns lead into gold," and expect to actually feel fulfilled. It doesn't work that way. Unless someone is profoundly, unshakably convinced of that singular mission—and stays that way for decades—it won't provide any real satisfaction. Without that deep-seated conviction, the project won't sustain you.
It might sound a bit naive, but all those "heavy" life struggles? They’re actually pretty trivial. Life is about doing what makes you happy. If nothing brings you joy anymore, then you’ve got a real problem on your hands—and you probably need to go find some professional help.
It follows that trying to condense one's entire purpose into a single point is an incredibly ambitious undertaking. Only exceptional people manage it—and they are exceptional precisely because they can. If you catch my drift, by successfully focusing their entire meaning into such a narrow aperture, they create an immense amount of pressure on a tiny surface area. They become incredibly piercing.
That also means those people are getting an intense, singular rush from that one specific thing. Most people find joy in a wide variety of things throughout their lives, and what brings you happiness shifts as you age. What excites you at twenty probably won't hold your interest when you're fifty, and vice versa.
Furthermore, you can’t just make a conscious decision to pick your purpose. That would imply it’s some kind of intellectual calculation. It’s like saying, "I should probably dive into quantum physics because that leads to fame," or "My life's calling is software engineering because the paychecks are massive." That isn't how it works. A person's true purpose is simply to ensure their existence is fulfilling. You only achieve that by focusing on the things and actions that actually bring you joy.
I’m not sure if I’m hitting the mark here, but you can’t force a sense of purpose onto a specific moment or stage of your life. You can't just decide it's there by sheer will. It’s a messy mix of cognitive processing and raw emotion—something far too complex to be reduced to a simple mantra like, "My life's purpose is my career." If building a career actually thrills you—if you get that genuine adrenaline rush while you're grinding at your desk, or if you look up and realize it’s already 9:00 PM and you’re still at the office because you were too deep in the zone to care—then maybe that’s it. That's your thing. But if that isn't happening? Stop pretending. Keep looking. 🤷
There’s also an inverse approach: finding purpose by actively dismantling the things that weigh you down. Take my own life, for example. One of my main outlets is animal rights activism—I work within civil society to fight for them. Essentially, I use my actions to systematically reduce the number of things in that sphere that cause me grief. Every single step forward toward progress fuels my drive; seeing even a small shift toward a better outcome makes the struggle worth it.
Look, this isn't some lifelong commitment, nor am I planning on doing this forever. Who knows? In twenty years, I might not even remember this phase existed—I'll likely have found entirely different purposes and things that actually bring me joy.