Question: what is your existential crisis right now ? Seriously – I’m good, nothing to look at here. Keep moving.

Existentialism in Calvin and Hobbes
Existentialism in Calvin and Hobbes (Photo credit: Lst1984)

I had a message in my twitter feed last week that asked me this:

Question: what is your existential crisis right now ?

I looked at it and thought about it. I understood what it meant, Wikipedia explains it as this:

An existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether his or her life has any meaning, purpose or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.

I was immediately offended. Why would someone think that my life doesn’t have purpose. Or anyone’s life for that matter? We all have a purpose, good, bad or indifferent. It doesn’t have to be job related, it could be relational. The fact of the matter is it is personal. Not something that needs to be shared – unless of course THAT is the purpose!

My answer to this question was simple:

I don’t question it. I know my life has meaning and purpose.

Some-days it is more obvious to me than other days, but purpose is there and I don’t have to look very hard. I know this question was meant to be well meaning and a conversation started on a philosophical level, but dude, I no longer need to analyze everything to death. It’s okay not to know the answer to every question. The hard part is accepting that. That could be your current purpose.

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11 thoughts on “Question: what is your existential crisis right now ? Seriously – I’m good, nothing to look at here. Keep moving.

    1. Sweetheart, YOU have masses…therein lies the purpose. Potty training is just an unfortunate side effect 🙂

      Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it. – Mahatma Ghandi

  1. Why does life need to have “a purpose” anyway? I’d be okay if it were all one big party.

    Ironically, I bought a book on existentialism yesterday. It’s heavy stuff, covering Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and others. We’ll see if I ever actually take the time to read it…

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