The search for the right question....

So, the eternal question is supposed to be "what is the meaning of life" right? But to anyone who has children, that just seems to be a rather simple question to answer. You just need to lie down on the floor with a giggling toddler and hear them say "I - oh - you mommy" and there is simply no need to think about the answer to this question. The meaning of life IS life. The new life that you bring into the world, the little day to day experiences that make up daily life, the sudden slap-you-in-the-face shocking moments you weren't planning on, each of these things are what give life meaning. I know that it is almost unbearably cliche and simplistic, but the question is rather cliche and simplistic so it only seems apropos to give such an answer.

But, as obvious as this is when I am sitting down to actually write about it.... it is so easy to lose sight of it all when you get caught up in every little thing going on around you. I look back at myself in the "olden" days and often don't recognize that person. Quite frequently I am relieved at that revelation, but sometimes I regret that I have let some of the things I cherished about myself and about life in general slip away. I just turned 30 a month ago, and felt no sorrow what so ever about that great event in my life. I have always had a certain philosophy about birthdays: If you dread a birthday then you are doing something wrong. Birthdays are supposed to be about celebrating another year in your life. If you don't have something to celebrate than you need to change the way you are living your life. And I did have so much to celebrate about 29. What a wonderful year that was. But, as I started a new decade, I thought a lot about my 20's. I thought about what I loved about them and what made them special. Then I thought about what lay ahead in my 30's if absolutely nothing changed in the way I was currently living my life. And I decided that I would not be satisfied with that. I need to focus more on embracing and celebrating that Life (with a capital L) that gives life meaning.

The question is how? Really, I think that is a better question than "What is the meaning of life?" After all, as teachers, we talk about higher level of thinking questions. 'How' questions are always more involved and take more thought than 'what' questions. So the new question for me is, "How do I continue to give life meaning?" not "What is the meaning of life?" Two very similarly worded questions that are very different.

I hope to challenge myself over the next year to take a look at the things I am doing and to challenge myself to do them differently. To do them differently by returning to what was once familiar. I think that the first step of this journey is to take risks. To realize that I will have to do things that are no longer second nature or entirely comfortable to me. So, why not put this all out there on my blog? What could be riskier than sharing this with... well... whoever? I am hoping to give myself a challenge each week, to live out that challenge privately, and then come back here to digest that week. So, here's hoping that I actually come back here next week and take the next step. I guess that could be my first challenge! :)