I am sort of addicted to self-help. Like, I listen to Mel Robbins, Oprah, Tony Robbins, you name it. I do this when I’m walking the dogs. I also listen in the car, and particularly when I’m down. I was feeling a bit blue yesterday, so I sought some fresh inspiration. On Spotify, I searched for “inspiration,” and a playlist of philosophical talk appeared. I’ve always loved philosophy–in particular, the meaning of life–so I clicked on it. The first episode was on Nihilism. Now, I recall something about it from studying Nihilism in college. But, yikes! This was NOT was I was looking for. Nihilism, for those not in the know, is extreme skepticism believing that life is meaningless! This quote was the best: “There really is nothing between the maternity ward and the crematorium.”
That is insane! Like, so sad!
BUT! I thought about it further, and this quote, for me, is liberating. If life is really just meaningless, then why stress about things? Why not just be? Like, all the pressure I put on myself to publish with the Big 5 publishers, to make a name for myself, it’s all a big waste of time and energy. I could just be...enjoy my family, my dogs, my writing, my LIFE!
So there is life in a meaningless life? Hm…I don’t know.
But, then, I decided to listen to some real inspo, and I’ve always wondered what it was like to be a monk. #nerd I found a podcast called Monk Mentality, and, in it, the narrator described how he trained with one of the top monks for years–waking up at 2 a.m. to meditate about how lucky we are to have earth and grass, followed by more meditation, and then acts of public service. (The waking at 2 a.m. really put a damper on my desire to flee to Tibet and wear a hair suit). However, the ideas of gratitude, looking outside of yourself for fulfillment, and giving back resonate. It’s not about living an austere and simple life, but about gratitude for what we have, and we can do that every day.
Or, we can just like not give a crap till the crematorium! This is liberty, folks.
So…all this is to say: try not to grip about things, because we all end up in the same place. Enjoy the ride, the journey, the nothingness. Wait, am I a nihilist now?
Here is the text I sent my husband after I listened at first:
