Finally!
After several scheduling conflicts I was able to join about 22 other locals for a 2 hour philosophy meetup.
For the entire time, I spoke with a handful of people about the myth of Sisyphus and the absurdity of life. No phones, no screens, nothing but short takes, long pauses, and multiple perspectives.
My group of six osculated between the theoretical and practical, the individual and the societal… avoiding the political (which today, is not easy to do).
A starter set of questions served to guide us in our small group of 6 but we allowed the conversation to more or less direct us. At the end, we moved into a large circle off all for 30 minutes to share takeaways.
It was everything I’d hoped it would be.
Mostly though it was 2 hours of getting outside of myself and connecting with my community in discussion that still leaves me thinking today.
Oh. And my takeaway was how surfacing your purpose in life, no matter how mundane life can be, and realizing that it all comes to an end regardless, is important. And that your purpose ultimately does impact others which makes you live beyond your existence (so fruitless? No… a form of unconscious immortality? Maybe). But know too that your societal purpose isn’t necessarily determined by you but likely formed by life experiences and an unconscious, evolutionary, animal instinct to carry the whole of the species forward.
As I returned to my own life and work at around 4:30 that day, I returned charged and fulfilled. Something that my rock rolling life doesn’t always provide.
If this made you think, pass it along.