Alicia Keys Quote from Authors of Forever on Making Meaning—Not Finding It.

“We are born on our own /

And we die on our own /

And we’re here to make meaning /

Of what happens in between /

We could hate, we could love /

We could doubt, we could trust /

But we’re here to make meaning /

For as long as we’re breathing and it’s alright /

Wherever you are, it’s alright /

Whoever you are, it’s alright”

Alicia Keys, Authors of Forever, ALICIA

Beyond the Quote (271/365)

Word choice matters. And with the opening concept of meaning in this above quote, I think Alicia nails it: We’re here to make meaning. We’re not here to find meaning. And I don’t think we’re here to mean nothing. Why be given life if we’re not meant to live? Why be given brains if we’re not meant to think? Why be given eyes if we’re not meant to see? Why be given hands if we’re not meant to touch? Why be given feet if we’re not meant to move? We’re certainly not born just to die—what’s the point in believing that? We’re born on our own, yes, but we’re not alone and we’re not born without what we need to make meaning—of that I’m sure.

We are born with everything we need—it’s simply up to us to learn how to use all of the tools we’ve been born with properly. While all of the tools might be relatively the same for us all (brains, hands, feet, etc.), what we choose to make with those tools is completely individualized. This is a product not only of our different brains, but of our different aptitudes, potentials, upbringings, learnings, experiences, etc. No two of us are the same and each of us has the potential to make something different. And when that happens—when we make something that is unique to our abilities that we can share and contribute to the world—meaning arises. And in my estimation, the more you’re able to do that, the more meaning you’ll be able to create in your life.

How we choose to spend our time between when we are born and when we die is everything. We could hate or we could love. There are certainly many reasons to hate. But, there are just as many reasons to love. The important question to ask is: What’s going to allow you to make more meaning in your life? We could doubt or we could trust. Upon careful inspection, I think you’ll find that there are just as many reasons to trust as there are to doubt. What’s going to give you the confidence and security you need to not only create more, but to create more in union with others? Wherever you are right now, it’s alright. But think about where you want to be and what beliefs are going to facilitate your journey there. Discard any beliefs that are going to stop you or slow you down.

Now, what is it that you could be here to make? More specifically, what could you make rather than find? Well, in my opinion, everything. Let’s start with relationships. You don’t find friends—you make friends. A friend becomes your best friend, not randomly or arbitrarily, but because of what you make together. And the same is true for the best friend that maybe becomes your spouse. What you make with your spouse is what makes the relationship—not what you find. Do you find memories or make memories? Do you find love with your partner or make love with your partner? Do you find babies or make babies? You get the idea.

And how to support the family? Career. Do you find a career or make a career? Let’s put it this way, careers certainly aren’t distributed based on “finders keepers.” If that was the case, life would just be one big scavenger hunt. Careers are made based on what you’ve learned to do, how you’ve learned to do it, and in the passion you bring to the work. A career is a process of active development, not a passive discovery made on the street. Even through the process of working, you make mistakes, you don’t find mistakes. And likewise, you make success, you don’t find it.

And what about yourself? In the midst of your career and all of the intertwined relationships, are you finding your best self or making your best self? Is personal time something that you find in the midst of the chaos or something that you have to make? Anyone that “finds” time for themselves is living a very different life than I’m accustomed to—that’s for sure. Personal development time, in my experience, is something that has to be made a priority. Otherwise, the never ending list of distractions and “urgent” matters always seem to fill idle time like a vacuum. If you want to grow as a person and contribute in the best ways you’re capable of, you need to make that happen—not hope that you find the time for it to happen on its own.

In the grand scheme of things, it might be easy to feel like nothing—how can you feel like something in comparison to the vastness of the universe? And furthermore, how can something so relatively minuscule and tiny, like you, have a meaning? My answer to that is simple: Who said our meaning has to be compared to the vastness of the universe? Meaning isn’t something that is to be compared. Just like growth isn’t something to be compared (except to one’s previous self). And like how contribution isn’t to be compared (except maybe to one’s previous contributions). Why? Because comparison makes losers of us all. There will always be a bigger and a better—to infinity. But, take comparison away? Give us our power back to make and create minus the expectation and comparison? And watch meaning flow. Maybe not to the furthest corners of the universe, but certainly to the furthest corners of your universe. And that, wherever you are, whoever you are, sounds pretty alright to me, too.

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