OPINION

Existential Neuroticism: An Anticipatory Grief Observed, Part 1

Written by Laura Young
Published August 20, 2005

A conversation I started to have one day with myself...
(flowing from my attempt to deal...quite poorly at times...with the reality that one of my dearest friends will one day die as a result of long standing medical issues that get more complicated all the time and the existential/spiritual crisis this has thrown me in to as I try to get ready to let him go)

"What had you hoped it would mean?"

There it was. This was how it was going to be. Just there. Naked. The simplest of questions cutting right to the chase.

"Which "it" are you refering to?"

I tried to play dumb, tried to convince myself that really there were so many questions. So very many. That is was really complicated with so many implications and nuances. That "IT" doesn't really lend itself to being contained in one single sentence.

Ah...that's part of the answer, isn't it?

"I had hoped "it" would be bigger. I had hoped it would be so weighty, so important, so complex an impossible to comprehend that it would take the rest of my life to understand it. I mean, if I get it---if I figure it all out---what am I supposed to do with the rest of my time?"

I believe life is inherently meaningless. Or maybe that is my hypothesis. Maybe what I had hoped...do hope...is that I am wrong. Maybe that is why the question landed so dead center...so naked and simple. I mean, the implication is that there IS NO meaning but if I want to ascribe some that would be just fine. Either way. Up to you.

But if I ascribe a meaning, does the meaning have any validity? Does it then become real? Am I to create my own reality and....

Ah, I get ahead of myself...

Perhaps the answer is yes...I hoped it would mean.

Does it make a difference if it doesn't? Does it make a difference if it does? Perhaps that is what I am here to find out.

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Laura Young is a life coach, author, photographer, and "deep water fish". If you enjoy her articles and are chewing over some big questions in your own life, please pay her a visit at Wellspring Coaching, where she has many additional resources for you. To view her photography, please visit Holy Moment Photography.
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Existential Neuroticism: An Anticipatory Grief Observed, Part 1
Published: August 20, 2005
Type: Opinion
Section: Culture
Filed Under: Culture: Society, Culture: Family and Relationships
Writer: Laura Young
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