Void of meaning and Procrastination

[RaBind]

This year is a gap year for me, before I hopefully go to university next year. I was wondering what I should do to make this year meaningful. What goal I could move towards (Damn, I've been institutionalized to think lineally). Why this year of my life should exist (I feel the same way about my whole life to a certain extent actually). I searched "i need something meaningful to do" on Google and found some pretty interesting articles, which I want to share. One of the two articles are about feeling a lack of meaning in life and the other one is about procrastination. Two major problems that I think are very relevant to intps, based on some of the posts I've read and my own experience.

The first article is based on a psychological study's results. It attempts to identify generally which actions are linked to making people happy and which actions are linked to giving people a feeling of meaning. http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/do-you-want-a-meaningful-life-or-a-happy-one/

The second article is about procrastination. It says that people have a list for things they should do and must do. It also talks about how many times people regard things in their lives, which they really want to change, as things they should do, rather than things which they must do.
http://www.theminimalists.com/deciding/

 

[Hawkeye]

Funny really, I have to provide some handouts for my class tomorrow (today...) about Blues rhythm and bass lines. Gotta love that Boogie-Woogie pattern ^^

I've literally just finished typing it up at 4:20am this morning. I practically had all week to do it, but instead I've ended up consuming the hours with other things that I quite frankly, looking back... can't seem to justify as time well spent. :/

 

[HsinHsin]

..I practically had all week to do it, but instead I've ended up consuming the hours with other things that I quite frankly, looking back... can't seem to justify as time well spent. :/

I do this a lot. I just quit trying to justify my action and try to catch up with the reality..
Under a friend's influence, I have come to think that meaning is what I create to define something. In other words, it is up to me to find something meaningful or not. But most of the time, I would not know what something means until later. I was not conscious of what something means to me during the time when it was happening but later I become conscious of it. Why? I guess because I needed to not know/be conscious of it, for it to happen. Or I have become good at making interpretations. Or both.

 

[Cognisant]

Everything is meaningless so there's no reason not to pick something on a whim and obsess the fuck out of it, your existence will be every bit as pointless as it was before but at least now there will be something different about you, something to separate you from every other bastard out there devoid of existential meaning.

Coffee, there you go, drink it, every type every way, read books about it, learn the history, learn how it's made, how it's prepared, the different styles at different times in different countries, nothing says I'm a contemporary sophisticate like knowing everything there is to know about coffee.

Philosophy, read that shit, trawl through Wikipedia and memorize the stories of Plato's Cave, The Ship of Theseus, The Myth of Sisyphus and other such thought experiments, because in future you'll be able to refer back to them and everyone will think you're fucking brilliant.

Etc.

What are you still doing here? Go go go!

 

[doncarlzone]

Philosophy, read that shit, trawl through Wikipedia and memorize the stories of Plato's Cave, The Ship of Theseus, The Myth of Sisyphus and other such thought experiments, because in future you'll be able to refer back to them and everyone will think you're fucking brilliant.

Etc.

What are you still doing here? Go go go!

And don't forget to be aware of the hypocrisy of your ambitions so you can score self awareness points as well.

We must go deeper.

 

[Cognisant]

Eh, be careful with awareness, too much awareness destroys the suspension of disbelief required to be motivated as being motivated is a state in which you've deluded yourself into believing that what you're doing is somehow meaningful.

But hey if you can manage to be self aware and motivated at the same time (or at least appear to be) then full credit to you, that is legitimately impressive in my book.

 

[Redfire]

But hey if you can manage to be self aware and motivated at the same time (or at least appear to be) then full credit to you, that is legitimately impressive in my book.

If you are motivated to play a videogame because it's fun, even though you know playing a videogame is not meaningful, aren't you doing just that?

 

[PhoenixRising]

Eh, be careful with awareness, too much awareness destroys the suspension of disbelief required to be motivated as being motivated is a state in which you've deluded yourself into believing that what you're doing is somehow meaningful.

But hey if you can manage to be self aware and motivated at the same time (or at least appear to be) then full credit to you, that is legitimately impressive in my book.

So I wonder, do you not consider yourself "aware"? I think that someone with the knowledge that meaning is a construct of the human psyche is far more aware of reality than someone who views meaning as an intrinsic quality of things.

Perhaps you speak from experience, and find yourself aware but unmotivated?

 

[Cognisant]

If you are motivated to play a videogame because it's fun, even though you know playing a videogame is not meaningful, aren't you doing just that?

Well yeah technically but the game's doing all the hard work for you and a game isn't going to challenge & frustrate you like the real world would.

So I wonder, do you not consider yourself "aware"?

I am but I try not to be, learning Java syntax is hard enough without being aware that I'm an insignificant speck in an uncaring universe that will never amount to anything or achieve anything of true lasting significance.

Existentialism, the life long drinking game.
Every time you feel yourself regressing into nihilism take a shot.