There Is No Purpose To Life

Except to live, in this moment

In my last couple articles, I’ve heavily declared the importance of purpose in life. Specifically, choosing a single “definite chief aim” and then arranging all of your thoughts and habits towards its achievement.

I’m a libra — the sign for which is a big set of balancing scales — so I crave balance, and must now argue the opposite.

Life Is Its Own Purpose

Consider sitting on a porch, witnessing the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen. Streaks of red and orange fill the sky, illuminating shifting clouds. What is the purpose of such a moment?

In one of those moments, it’s obvious: experience and delight arise on their own, for their own sake. Life doesn’t have a purpose because life is its own purpose — any purpose other than living distracts you from the beautiful moments that are right in front of you.

Purpose Narrows Your Experience

The moment you set a goal, your brain begins to filter out everything that isn’t relevant to that goal. For example, set yourself the task of counting all the red things in the room around you. Now if I ask you how many blue things there were, did you even see them?