Look at the Oscars most years. The literary awards. You will see a bunch of gloomy, serious stories and movies.
Crime. Racism. Scandal.
A bunch of very, very serious things.
We tend to confuse seriousness and meaning.
We look at a movie or book on crime, on racism, on terror, looked at with high intelligence, and we say, this is a serious, meaningful work, not pop fluff like E.T.
Meanwhile, as we read of crime and terror, Steven Spielberg's E.T. is teaching us about love and family.
Which is the meaningful story?
The one with a lot of crime and terror and despair?
Or the one that teaches us of love and family?
While a bunch of serious, scary, gloomy movies and novels are out there, telling stories of crime and despair, movies like E.T. and the original Muppet Movie are teaching us what family really is.
The Original Muppet Movie telling the story of someone whose dream is to make millions of people happy, and telling the story of a bunch of strangers who become family.
There is a difference between seriousness and meaning.
Crime is a serious thing.
But we don't find meaning there.
We find meaning in love. Friendship. Making people happy. Things like this.
If you want to find meaning, look in Plato. The teaching of The Buddha. Confucius. Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. The Roman Stoics.
And then look for stories that teach what they teach.
Or simply look for stories about love and family, and making people happy.
There is where you will find meaning.
Not in stories of crime, terror and racism.
In stories of kindness and friendship, love and family, happy things and beautiful things.
This is where you will find meaning.
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson