added by Patricia Mou and · updated 3mo ago
Instead of your Life's Purpose
- This means not waiting to find your story arc, but rather recognizing that there are stories that pop up which you can opt into if you recognize them and have the right skills and virtues.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- The non-linear approach is different – rather than trying to discover a particular arc path and follow it to its conclusion, it recognizes that there will be many different moments and opportunities to create meaning that arise in our life.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- Most of us, however, develop a portfolio of meaning – we have multiple sources of it in our lives, and cannot in fact derive it from only one source any more than we can be healthy on a diet of bread and water.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- There are profound asymmetries and power laws at play in the pursuit of meaning – a split second decision might be the most important one you make; years of lounging around in cafes and on beaches might pay off more than years of hard work - if it results in one extremely good idea.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- Time is not fungible – a given moment of opportunity, or a chance to respond appropriately to a crisis, might not occur again.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- There are Twitter threads made by anonymous writers which contain more insight than most published academic papers, and memes which capture the human condition better than most works found in art galleries.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- An alternate approach is a non-linear approach. It is premised on the idea that life is full of randomness punctuated by sudden moments – crises and opportunities – with vast potential for meaning making, when our skills and virtues shine.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- The linear approach imagines that the meaning of our lives can be reduced to a mission, like the kind that fixes saints, heroes and social reformers in the historical imagination.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago
- Instead of looking for a cause to devote your life to, you might try to become someone who is useful and level-headed in a crisis, who is well connected and makes friends easily, or who regularly has good ideas.
from Instead of your Life's Purpose by Unverified Revelations
Patricia Mou added 3y ago