Joy comes to those who make life meaningful
By Cynthia Rosenthal
A response to Ron Bassilian and others with the same question
about the meaning of life:
Dear Ron, et al:
You asked, "What is the meaning of life?" A religious person who
believes in some form of afterlife might say that the purpose of
one’s life on earth is to prepare oneself for a better life in
heaven (or wherever one’s religion says one goes after death). I am
not, however, one of those people. In Maxwell Anderson’s words (in
the song "A Bird of Passage," in the musical "Lost in the
Stars":
"This is the life of men on earth:
Out of darkness we come at birth
Into a lamplit room and then
Go forward into dark again."
If one accepts that view, in my opinion the question shouldn’t
be, "What is the meaning of life?" but "How can I give my life
meaning?" My answer: "Make your life count by helping other people
to have easier lives or pleasanter lives and to bring happiness to
other people as much as possible."
You can do this vocationally or avocationally. Vocationally, in
addition to the obvious fields of service such as medicine, social
work, public health and the Peace Corps, you could be a lawyer
working for Legal Aid or in a field such as environmental law.
You could be an honest politician working to pass laws that
benefit people and society (though this would probably be
frustratingly unsuccessful; you could be a teacher at any level
K-12 (we badly need talented teachers, especially at the secondary
level, who can communicate well and interest students who find
subjects such as math and history difficult).
There are other less obvious fields of endeavor as well, e.g.,
professionals in scouting, the Y, recreation, the forestry service,
etc.
If you aren’t so altruistic as to choose as a career or
profession one that pays more in good feelings than in money, you
can still help other people avocationally. Perhaps you have some
talent in the one of the arts: participation in community theaters,
orchestras, choral groups; performing magic at children’s parties
or in hospitals, nursing homes, etc., these are just some ways to
brighten people’s lives.
For people without these talents, there are many other
opportunities to volunteer one’s time to help make the lives of
other people  their passage through the "lamplit room" Â
pleasanter, more bearable. Even as a student at UCLA, these
opportunities exist.
For example, have you been a counselor at Unicamp? Do you
participate in one of the tutorial programs? Are you a Big Brother
or Big Sister? Do you drive or pack food for Meals on Wheels or an
AIDS organization? Do you donate blood? Do you (not to be morbid)
carry a signed organ donor card?
The above are only some of the myriad opportunities to help
others. My advice is to be other-directed  not in the sense
of caring what others think but in the sense of thinking of others
rather than of yourself.
Make your life have the meaning you seem to think it lacks.
Rosenthal is a UCLA alumna, class of 1965.