I found meaning in life via my relationship with my girlfriend. That relationship, sadly, might be over. So I may have to resort to the kind of complete bullshit nihilism that most atheists don't actually believe in.
To be fair ... I wouldn't technically be nihilistic. I do think that there is meaning in life in general and that meaning comes from us. I'd just be so depressed that I'd be one of the people incapable of feeling like there was any meaning.
I think meaning has to be felt. I've been depressed in my life in the past. And, to me, depression always feels like meaninglessness/nihilism.
It's probably the case that the reason why I'm actually depressed is ultimately for neurobiological reasons. But my mind is going to rationalize things. And even when I recognize that that rationalization may be irrational: I have to make sense of things in some way. Such is the nature of being human. And feeling like everything is meaningless is how my brain makes sense of its neurobiological suffering.
To be fair ... I wouldn't technically be nihilistic. I do think that there is meaning in life in general and that meaning comes from us. I'd just be so depressed that I'd be one of the people incapable of feeling like there was any meaning.
I think meaning has to be felt. I've been depressed in my life in the past. And, to me, depression always feels like meaninglessness/nihilism.
It's probably the case that the reason why I'm actually depressed is ultimately for neurobiological reasons. But my mind is going to rationalize things. And even when I recognize that that rationalization may be irrational: I have to make sense of things in some way. Such is the nature of being human. And feeling like everything is meaningless is how my brain makes sense of its neurobiological suffering.
"Zen … does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes." - Alan Watts