What is the meaning of life? The eternal question. Technically, there is no meaning to anything. If you're a rational person who doesn't feel the need to insert a superior, infallible being into their lives for comfort, you will have realised that the universe doesn't have to exist at all. There might just as well be nothingness. A total void.
It is while pondering such cheery thoughts that I ate my breakfast cereal this morning. It rather put all my current worries into perspective. So I have no job, no girlfriend, and my housemate is showing increasing signs of being a serial killer. Apparently leaving water on the bathroom floor after a shower is a crime punishable by death, or worse, in Lithuania. She rearranged the sitting room yesterday so that all 6 chairs, TV, table, plants, and books were at geometrically severe 90 degree angles. Her attention to detail is such that I'm sure she could kill me, splattering blood and entrails everywhere, and 30 minutes rigorous cleaning later it would look like a nursing home again.
These troubles were in perspective. I was dealing with more pressing matters. If nothing has to exist at all, how can we find meaning in our lives? What is important? Clearly from a biological perspective we exist because we were born, and our function as a member of our species is to continue that species by propagating. But that's no real comfort. I wanted to work out what was the underlying force of life, what makes each life significant and worth living, how I can be fulfilled as a person.
And I came to a conclusion. One aspect of human life is, I believe, more important, meaningful and fulfilling than anything else. That is; connections.
The connections we share with others underly our lives so totally and unfailingly that we often don't notice them. Many have an awareness of them, but it can take a traumatic severing of an intense, life-giving connection to make you realise how vital they really are. They feed us energy, drive us, and enrich our everyday lives. We live for that moment of eye contact with a new person, the unspoken understanding which is immediately and intuitively formed without words. Being able to follow their train of thought with full confidence you're on the right track (ha).
Connections can be weak or strong. You may be able to share a laugh with one friend, but with another you can share complete silence and still be happy. Connections can be fabricated, people can be duped by charismatic con artists and cult figures who are skilled in creating a mirage of a bond to sway crowds to their whim.
Strong connections can lead humans to perform amazing acts of sacrifice and altruism. They give us worth, make us feel understood and normal. Their power is unbridled.
What I'm saying, I guess, is I need more mates.