Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 16:00:44 -0500 From: "Children's Animated Television" Subject: My Personal View and Philosophy: Life's Meaning, Legacy and Money My Personal View and Philosophy: Life's Meaning, Legacy and Money How often have we pondered, "What does my life mean?" This is truly the greatest mystery in our lives. I would think that this would be a more appropriate question than "What is the meaning of life?" because this implies a universal answer for all beings. Perhaps a generic answer could be "...to grow spiritually and to help other beings as well." Or maybe "...for a soul to experience physical reality." However, I am not satisfied with a generic answer, just like I would never buy a generic box of "Fruit Loops" cereal. Have any of you ever tried generic Fruit Loops? DON'T! :-) I am not sure how Existentialism fits into this picture. If "this is it", then what is the point of a legacy at all? More about this later... I want to talk about the meaning of my life. My hope is to inspire other people to perhaps consider a similar path and philosophy. What follows are my beliefs about our lives, the legacy we leave and how money fits into this picture. I find profound meaning in my life by helping others: by teaching them to think for themselves, to empower their communities, and ultimately, to solve their own problems. I abhor the way we let our government mishandle nearly everything it does "for our own good." My goal is to educate future generations to learn not to expect nor want the heavy hand of government to solve their problems. In my opinion, the "War on Drugs" is a shining example of government inaction (one word), which is diametrically opposed to what they really want us to believe, government in action (two words). Actually, the drug situation is an entire evil industry that I will write about in another article. But I think you get the point. I have been blessed with what I consider the intuitive and logical ability of foresight. I can examine an issue and think it through to its ultimate conclusion. As a result, I have learned that solutions are easier to find once you understand the nature of conflict. I believe that the nature of conflict is that it will ultimately resolve itself no matter how hard we try to keep it going. Sadly, people create conflict for their own selfish motives and self-aggrandizement. People also keep conflicts going for the same selfish reasons. Shame on them! On a person to person level, all of us have thought to ourselves "why did I do that?" after we have verbally assaulted a loved one or coworker for something inane and non-Earth shattering... Apply this on the macro level and many a world leader has had this same thought, except their actions have a much more profound effect. One clear example that comes to mind is war, an ongoing struggle that continues to plague our world. Each side has a choice to make: continue to fight until no one or nothing is left standing or never start the war to begin with. As we know, the first choice, of continuing to do battle has been, and continues to be the most common choice. I propose the second choice, which is also a difficult one to make. Preventing or ending a fight requires cooperation, compromise, creativity and the realization we can no longer afford to live on a violent planet. This example illustrates my philosophy: conflict will eventually resolve itself. So I propose to you that each combatant should sit down and resolve the issues peacefully, once they understand that in the end, they would end up doing this anyway. It is a way of helping others to help themselves: empowering people with conflict resolution skills. And what about my legacy? What is this about? According to my outdated Webster's it means, "Something received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past [Example: the LEGACY of ancient philosophers]" That's not a cool example, Webster. Here is mine: "The movement towards non-violent conflict resolution was the LEGACY of Ghandi's life" :-) The legacy of my life and its meaning are one in the same. If I were to die today, I would leave this plane of existence full of joy: happy that I tried to leave the Earth in a better state than when I found it. About the Existentialists... Even if "this is it", your legacy is still important to your grandchildren and future generations. And now... What about money? It is just a tool for me that allows me to continue to do the work for my non-profit. This work is to produce hard-hitting educational videos for kids on difficult social issues, and to educate all people through the Internet. I have completed videos on diversity and AIDS and plan to develop one on teen suicide in GLBT (gay, lesbian etc.) youth. Funding will also help me to continue my people empowerment mission. This has been a struggle, being "too progressive" for many people. You will never see that ugly, purple with that annoying voice, nemesis of parents with young children "Barney" invite his gay lover as a special guest on his show. :-) So, there is my philosophy on life's meaning, legacy and money. If I can help children and people to think differently about this Earth, I will truly be a rich person. "To die rich in money without helping others is to leave poor in Karma. And you CAN take Karma with you." Claude DiDomenica http://www.ufonetwork.com/resume/ © Copyright 1997 Claude DiDomenica and Children's Animated Television, All Rights Reserved This may be copied, reproduced and distributed in any way, as long as it remains in its entirety and this notice is NOT removed, and no profit is made from the use thereof