Tag Archives: meaning

My time spent in the happiness of pursuit — the journey not the destination — has slowly transitioned towards the creation of meaning. We often conflate meaning with happiness. We hope that if we find happiness, we’ll also find meaning, but they aren’t the same.

Happiness derives from the influence we have in directing our lives towards a desired outcome. If you want to be a famous writer but feel that luck is how you find an agent and that your sales bend to the whims of market forces, then that feeling of powerlessness to make things better will leave you unhappy. On the other hand, if you feel that you have the power to build a loyal fan base that will stand behind your work then that sense of control over your destiny makes you happy.

Meaning is a feeling of connection you have to what you do. If you want to be a famous writer, what would make all those hours in front of the blank page worth it? If you never got published, would the time spent still be meaningful?