Shouldn't we embrace pointlessness?

Shouldn’t we embrace pointlessness? Work : the grown-up’s Santa Claus

 

Warning: this text contains a large number of double ss’s. Possibly toxic, depending on the dosage. Read with caution.

Many people have a problem with feeling aimless or without purpose. Pointlessness makes us feel vulnerable, as a huge void opens up, revealing what the world looks like without self-imposed obligations and activities. In this uneventful, quiet world, everything moves slowly.

Before continuing, let me make it clear that I’m speaking from a rich Westerner’s point of view, who has many possibilities in life and whose endless options often put him in ‘freeze-mode.’

However, there is no reason not to take the man of luxury seriously. He might even give us a more real picture of humanity than the man of necessity, weathered and worn by circumstances which keep him from delving deeper into his thoughts and feelings.

Returning to these self-imposed obligations and activities – usually referred to as work- one can observe a funny paradox. We complain about it daily, but we can’t live without it. It gets worse: we need it.

It gives our lives meaning, in the same way structuring time into seconds, minutes, days and years give our lives meaning. And this meaning, ultimately, seems to be something everyone is madly striving for. So much so, that when someone gets the feeling their life might be without this purpose, the world becomes a dark, sorry place and matters must be resolved at once.

However, I suggest doing an experiment. Two, actually.

The first one is to sit somewhere where you have a perspective on life in motion; a café, for instance. It’s quite simple: just watch people going about their daily practices. Observe their gait and their expression. What do they radiate? Determination? Hapiness? Stability? Routine? Boredom? Think about what drives them and to what extent their world-view and mental health relies on kidding themselves day after day. Is work is the grown-up’s Santa Claus?

The second one: try to embrace pointlessness. Do nothing for a while. Abandon your routine for a longer period. And try to see the world in its aimlessness, if that’s what you see in it. Above all, try to see the world separated from the view you have imposed on it, in as far as that’s possible. And then try and see if you can stand it.

I can say I tried to, enjoyed it for a while, but failed to keep up with it, thereby joining the majority of the workaholic population. However, the experience was a valuable one and I think a lot can be said for stopping to feel like everything has to ‘head somewhere.’

In the end, pointlessness might not deserve the negative connotation it gets. Either that or I’ve had too many coffees.