In a more popular sense, meaning has been discussed as “a construct and experience shrouded in mystery” (Mattiuzzi, 2015), “what people try to create or find” (West, 2007), or simply replaced or substituted for words like “purpose” or “calling.” Saying this to a child after seeing their performance in a school talent show would likely give it a very positive and complimentary pragmatic meaning, while saying it to a stranger who just slipped and fell on their way down the stairs would likely be received as neither positive nor complimentary. In linguistics, for example, there is both a semantic meaning, or the actual content, and a pragmatic meaning, or meaning that is dependent on context (Nordquist, 2017).įor example, the phrase “You put on quite a show!” has the same semantic meaning no matter what context it is uttered in, but the pragmatic meaning can vary widely. Moving on, not only are there different levels to the word, there are also different kinds of meanings. Now we’re getting to the real meat of the word – meaning is something we derive, something we share, and something we can create. For example, if a poet describes love as “a prison,” you might interpret the meaning as his feeling confined by his love.” “When you read a poem, you try to figure out the author’s intended meaning by interpreting the words he has chosen. If you want to learn the meaning of the word meaning, you just need to look it up in the dictionary.” “Meaning is what a word, action, or concept is all about – its purpose, significance, or definition. Of course, there are deeper levels to the meaning of “meaning.”įor example, brings us a little deeper with the following definition: These are the definitions that apply when we say things like “What did he mean when he said that?” or “The meaning was lost on her.” These definitions of meaning should be familiar to you. The end, purpose, or significance of something.What is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated signification import. We can get our trusty old dictionary (or, in this case, out and flip over to the “M” section to get a no-nonsense definition of the word. Let’s start with the most basic definition for now. After all, “meaning” can have a different meaning for everyone! There are so many ways to define meaning that it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one or two “best” definitions of meaning. These creative, science-based exercises will help you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals and will give you the tools to inspire a sense of meaning in the lives of your clients, students, or employees.įirst off, let’s make sure we are on the same page when we talk about meaning. If you have ever asked these questions yourself, you are in the right place! In this piece, we’ll go over what meaning is, where it may come from, how it can be found, and other important topics related to meaning in life.īefore you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free. “Why do we need meaning? How does meaning affect us? What even IS meaning?” We intuitively know that we want meaning in our lives, and that meaning helps us thrive, but we rarely stop to ask: We can find meaning in the sublime, in the absurd, in the dull and dreary, and in the perfectly wretched in life. We can find meaning in every scenario, every event, every occurrence, every context. Luckily, humans are resourceful – we have infinite ways of finding meaning, and infinite potential sources of meaning. We are all hungry for meaning, for purpose, for the feeling that our life is worth more than the sum of its parts. In a word, each man is questioned by life and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life to life he can only respond by being responsible.” “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. Throughout modern history, one of the questions that humans have asked the most is
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