I like Albert Camus, who’s an existentialist philosopher, although he didn’t consider himself one. He noted that there was an absurdity afoot in “being”. That man wishes to find meaning in a world where there isn’t in inherent meaning. People generally avoid this absurdity by killing themselves, turning to religion, or some other unaccountable hope that they turn to in order to avoid thinking about the void that is existence. The only real way, in Camus’ eyes, to live genuinely and to life’s greatest potential, was to stand in the middle of the absurd and never forget/avoid the glaringly obvious fact that man’s desire for meaning is at odds with our meaningless existence. If you stand in the void, where your search for meaning and existence meet, you’re forced to make your own meaning, rather than expect the void of existence to just hand you it.

In my opinion, this is a pretty spot on way to approach life. I don’t want to be handed false meaning or wait for meaning, I want to make my own. If me not being totally in control of myself has bearing on me creating meaning, so be it, at least I will create something in the process while in this void. Through this I can paint the void with my ideas, thoughts, perspectives, education, and me experience. This is free will, this is actually living, creating meaning where there is none. Even if I am not truly free, I’d rather take on the absurdity that is being rather than wait for the universe to hand me meaning. This is considering the fact that I am essentially the universe looking in on itself, as my consciousness is the only way the universe has to look back at itself. Along with this, I’m not truly separate from anyone seeing as how everyone and everything affects me on some level. This truly makes me more connected to everything else than I can ever really comprehend.

I’m an eventuality (so far) of all that is, and as are you. So, if you are the universe and you observe this general lack of meaning in the universe, and you have the ability to create meaning because of your humanness, then that is the ultimate end that the universe has, which is to create meaning through us conscious beings since it has no other way to do so. So, I’d say, stand in the void please and give the universe and yourself the meaning that “you” truly desire.

You’re more than welcome to live your life as you see fit, obviously, but this is just my two cents.