The Wonder of Beautiful Meaningless Things

Does a flower bloom because it is meaningful? Yes, no, maybe both. Sometimes we confuse meaningfulness with usefulness.

The usefulness of a flower is reproduction. It protects the plant’s reproductive organs, attracts pollinators, and bears fruits and seeds. We’ve all been taught this basic plant biology lesson somewhere in our elementary education, but probably haven’t thought about it again since.

Because it is meaningless. In the grand scheme of things.

We do not love flowers because of their usefulness as a reproductive mechanism for plants, we love them for their aesthetics.

When we appreciate the beauty of a flower, when we truly appreciate it, with the grace of our full attention, we can experience fascination, awe, wonder, admiration, and more. That’s why flowers are meaningful.

But such meaninglessness is staring at a flower like an idiot.

There are a million other more meaningful things one can be doing, right?

Or are they not really meaningful, but just useful?

When we feel like we’ve lost our way, lost our spark, lost our passion, could it be because we’ve been doing too many useless meaningful things? Or too many useful meaningless things?

Maybe we’ve been working too hard trying to get ahead doing a job we don’t really care about.

Maybe we’ve been fighting too long to maintain a relationship that no longer serves anyone.

Maybe we’ve done what we don’t like doing so long we just don’t know how to change anymore.

All those things that we’ve been educated to identify as useful and meaningful, are they really? How can we we move forward when all that we believed in has fallen apart?

In the industrialized society, an action is often considered meaningful only if it provides survival usefulness or adds economic value. But making a living alone is not living. People who cannot make a living and suffer because of it is a tragic reality. People who have succeeded well beyond making a living but still suffer is an even more tragic reality. Because that is the ultimate failure of the american dream. When we’ve worked hard and achieved our goals but still suffer, then what?

What we need more of are beautiful meaningless things. All the things that people do solely for the purpose of adding zest to life, without consideration for whether it generates any tangible value or not. Whatever you want to do simply as an expression of who you are, and not just to earn a living or to gain power or status or recognition.

My most recent beautiful meaningless thing was that during the pandemic lockdown, I became a monk. I didn’t shave my head or go to a monastery or anything like that. I simply lived like one, in my own home.

Technology is a wonderful thing. Nowadays, we don’t have to travel to the Himalayas and live in a monastery to get instructions from a spiritual master, we can access all the wisdom of the world from the comfort of our own homes via the internet.

I cancelled Netflix and started watching youtube videos on obscure topics I found fascinating.

I stopped listening to the news and started listening to podcasts from my guru.

I stopped reading technical books and business books and picked up a novel for the first time in decades.

I stopped eating takeout excessively and drinking alcohol mindlessly.

I started cooking and inventing my own recipes.

I started meditating and practicing yoga.

I spent a lot of time wandering around in nature.

I took long walks early in the morning to no particular places, just for the fresh air and peaceful atmosphere.

I wrote a book of poetry on esoteric topics and self published on Amazon with zero regard for how well it could sell, simply for my own fulfillment.

I took creative courses like writing and graphic design for fun despite these things having absolutely nothing to do with my profession.

I grew green onions in a jar and made DIY cat toys even though I could easily buy them from a store.

I took naps!

Beautiful meaningless things. They are what transcend our lives from existence to ecstasy.

If you find yourself thinking questions like “what is the meaning of life”, it is time to stop thinking so much, and just do some beautiful meaningless things.

When you’re searching for meaning is likely when you’re most miserable but also when you have the greatest creative potential.

It’s when you no longer know who you are and why you’re here, that you have the least to lose by trying something terribly useless but beautifully genuine. That’s how you find the power of fearlessness, by moving through darkness.

When the alternative is death or a life of the living dead, what’s there to lose by doing something so daringly authentically you, even if it’s completely meaningless?