The Meaning Of Life?

east williamsburgnew yorknew york citypersonalphotographyportraitsspiritualitythoughtsUncategorized

Dec 13

Habe nun, ach! Philosophie, Juristerei und Medizin, und leider auch Theologie Durchaus studiert, mit heißem Bemühn. Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor! Und bin so klug als wie zuvor.

Well, that's Philosophy I've read, and Law and Medicine, and I fear Theology, too, from A to Z; Hard studies all, that have cost me dear. And so I sit, poor silly man no wiser now than when I began.

Faust/Goethe, Lines 354-359

When I was growing up I was looking up to my parents and all these other tall people and was hoping that one day I would be as tall and would know as much as they do. They seemed to have all the answers. They knew where we came from and where we would go to, why we are here, our destiny and what the meaning of life is. Of course they did, they were grownups.Having been a grown up myself for a while now the opposite seems to be true for me. Every day I know a little less about why I'm here, who I am and where I'm going to. It seems the mystery of life is expands on a daily basis.While I can accept that I will never find out where I come from and where I'm going (maybe human beings are not meant to find that out), I at least want to know why I'm here. Is there a purpose? Is there a meaning of life? Is it being an artist? Making money? Making a difference? Success? Knowledge? Yoga? Wisdom? Happiness?I tried to figure this out for my entire life but yesterday was the day to surrender. On 12/12/12 I surrendered to the fact that I can't come up with an answer. I have no idea.In the summer I went to a senior center to shoot portraits of the people there and I asked each person the question,"what is the meaning of life to you?". I thought that they must know since they have been here for a long time. Some said a lot, some said very little and others did not have anything to say at all. People who where very religious talked a lot about Jesus and God and that their faith gives their life meaning, people talked about their families and friends, about work, others had never thought about that and were stunned by the question.This is how I came up with the idea for this new project. I'll ask people what the meaning of life is and wile I'm there snap a picture of them as well.Yesterday I started with my best friend Marco Ramirez. He must have an answer.Based on my experiences with the last two multimedia shows I believe that stories and personal truths are best told by people themselves. I'll post short sound clips with the answers I get. Let's see what I can find out......