#37 - Finding Meaning in Life

Hello Eric,

This episode reminds me of a film / documentary I saw recently and really liked on Netflix: “Stutz: Building Happiness”; maybe you've seen it since then. At the beginning of the film, it talks about a pyramid that's similar to what's mentioned in the book: 1. Body / 2. People / 3. Yourself. I really liked this documentary, and it makes me want to read the book co-written by the psychiatrist from the documentary, “The Tools Method”.

Anyway, I definitely recommend watching the documentary; I think it's well-made, super easy to get into, and also quite touching, showing the vulnerability of the psychiatrist himself.

Thanks for your content, by the way, it really gets me thinking. :)
Cédric

Hello there,

Another excellent episode! Your podcast is awesome, so please don't stop! :) I love hearing you open up on the mic, and the interviews are super cool too.
This episode and its content remind me of a movie (I'm torn between Return of the Living Dead 3 and Candyman, maybe it's another one of that type) where one of the characters, a surprisingly insightful homeless guy, says, "We all have something inside us; the important thing is to get it out." It also brings to mind a phrase I read in a book: "know what you want and do everything to get it." Is that really the recipe for happiness?

When you think about it, this makes you wonder about the determinism of the universe in general and the destiny of individuals in particular, just like you did with Elio. Because if we HAVE to fulfill our destiny, is it just to be happy? Would happiness be a kind of "currency" from the universe that we receive without realizing it when we follow OUR own path – the one that was assigned/attributed to us? And if so, do we really have a choice? Do we condemn ourselves to a life of unhappiness if we don't follow the script? To the terrible Hell of religions?

I invite anyone who reads this – and I hope Mr. Flag himself does – to think about this. Haven't there been times when you felt depressed, totally lacking desire or motivation, bored trying one thing after another, hoping to get back into the flow, only to realize, nope, still not it?
Is this what we feel when we stray from our "tracks"? This could be a great topic for a podcast/debate :).

Hey Eric,
Just wanted to say thanks for this podcast. I really liked your summary/analysis of this part of the book.
It's interesting how language impacts people's culture and how they understand things. Like the word 'meaning' here, which in French loses a lot of its 'openness' and possibilities – a difference you can see between French and American culture.
'Meaning' isn't the only word that shows how vocabulary affects culture, but the main point of my comment was just to thank you and congratulate you on your work.

Looking forward to the next episodes, all the best to you!

Fiona

P.S. Oops, I already posted this comment once but under the wrong episode, haha, sorry about that, but here it is again under the right one!

Hey Eric!
Really interesting episode – it's cool that you're playing around with podcast formats; I really liked that this episode and number 35 were based on a book. It was a very deep/meta/dense episode that made me think even more and question things. I can find meaning in my daily actions, as they all, or most of them, aim to achieve goals: for example, studying to get a degree, etc... However, finding a big life goal, a sense of purpose... that's 'another story'. But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's enriching to be in this process of questioning, searching, and all that, and I almost wonder if this quest isn't an end in itself?
To touch on another point, I get that 'analysis paralysis' you mentioned when you have too many choices, and I understand that sometimes it's easier to maintain the status quo – because same here – so I was wondering, how would you go about changing things?

Thanks for your podcast! Keep up the good work!
Marina