This week I was deeply honoured to be able to write and conduct a funeral for a beautiful soul. Someone who lived a good life. Someone who knew what was meaningful to them and lived their life accordingly. It’s so easy to not do this. Because it feels like everything is screaming at us to focus our attention on other things… thinking that these things are somehow a stepping stone to eventually living in a way that is meaningful.
In his book ‘Lost Connections’, Johann Hari explores what he considers to be the nine causes of depression and anxiety of our time. Two of the causes are to do with meaning. 'A lost connection to meaningful work' and 'a lost connection to meaningful values'.
Many of us, myself included, have been sent on a wild goose chase to find meaning in the wrong places; in consumerism, busyness, status and social media. But they just don’t fill us up, they don’t give our souls the sustenance that they need – in the way that doing something that is meaningful to us does. As John O'Donohue puts it; ‘Our time is hungry in spirit.’
In my experience, death in any of its guises is a potent way to reflect on how we are living. What is meaningful to us – and whether we are living our lives in accordance with that. (A big clue is that it's never to do with 'achieving' anything. Meaning is not about 'goals'). What is meaningful for you? Time with your loved ones? Time in nature? Creating art? Living with kindness? And are you attending to this? Or is it taking a back seat in your life? This life. It’s wild and precious.