The Meaning of Life

So I dropped off the face of the planet (in the blogosphere) pretty much since my son, Elek was born. I finally decided to pick back up.

My friend Chris and I were talking the other day about what we want to do with our lives. Currently, the one bad thing about my life is my job. Chris currently doesn't have a job (lucky him) and doesn't want one similar to the kind of dream job I'm hoping to secure. He wants to promote the freedom of information through a serious of papers and lectures, somewhat following in the footsteps of Richard Stallman, who some consider somewhat crazy. This is beside the point. Chris brought up the fact that he doesn't really want to work, but to discover the secrets of the universe, study quantum physics, and try to extract the meaning of life from life itself. That got me thinking and I don't think I've stopped since he said that. In the back of my mind that question has been there for quite some time as it is for many people. "What is the meaning of life?"

I think for each individual the meaning of life can be quite different. I recently discovered the meaning of life while feeding my 7 and a half month old son. It is simply him. He is the meaning of my life. He is the reason I strive to be better. He is the reason I want this country to turn itself around. And he is the reason I named my business Elek Technologies. While I was thinking this, I took one step back and thought that perhaps the meaning of life for all of mankind... the real meaning of life is life itself. To live life. To create life. To enjoy life.

Tonight I rewatched one of my favorite movies American Beauty and was reminded of what really matters in life when Lester shouts "It's just a couch!" followed by "This isn't life, it's just stuff." Money is not the answer, though I can see how someone could easily slip into that mindset. Happiness is the answer. Living life is the answer. And preserving that which makes us happy is the answer.