{"id":95,"date":"2020-02-19T01:02:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T01:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wordpress1\/?page_id=95"},"modified":"2025-09-20T15:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T15:08:54","slug":"build-meaning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/build-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Build meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some people find meaning prepackaged in cultural traditions, scriptures, or science. If that works for you, great (though you probably wouldn\u2019t be reading this if it did). I\u2019m convinced that ultimately, it\u2019s not a matter of finding<\/em> meaning. We have to build it ourselves, like a puzzle, one piece at a time. A scripture might be one piece, but rarely the whole picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creative experience is a key piece for many people. The creation of kids is a giant example, but much smaller creative acts have a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Workbelt<\/figure>
\n

Creativity can be a way you express love for others (such as cooking or home improvement projects). <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Creativity can pass your beliefs and values on to kids (telling stories, sharing music or dance). It can leave a legacy once you’re gone (art, craft projects, writing, even home movies). Each can add meaning to your life. It’s often just a matter of giving that activity the credit it is due\u2014becoming more mindful of how it matters to your life and the greater collectives you’re part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also create meaning for yourself by inventing your own rituals or ceremonies. Here’s one example from my life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Image by Lucid_Light<\/a> from fractal art by Eli Vokounova<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I once had a vision<\/a> that lies at the base of my sense of meaning and how we’re all woven together. Perhaps what I saw will resonate with you, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some people find meaning prepackaged in cultural traditions, scriptures, or science. If that works for you, great (though you probably wouldn\u2019t be reading this if it did). I\u2019m convinced that ultimately, it\u2019s not a matter of finding meaning. We have to build it ourselves, like a puzzle, one piece at a time. A scripture might be one piece, but rarely the whole picture. The creative experience is a key piece for many people. The creation of kids is a giant example, but much smaller creative acts have a role. Creativity can be a way you express love for others (such as cooking or home improvement projects). Creativity can pass your beliefs and values on to kids (telling stories, sharing music or dance). It can leave a legacy once you’re gone (art, craft projects, writing, even home movies). Each can add meaning to your life. It’s often just a matter of giving that activity the credit it is due\u2014becoming more mindful of how it matters to your life and the greater collectives you’re part of. You can also create meaning for yourself by inventing your own rituals or ceremonies. Here’s one example from my life. Image by Lucid_Light from fractal art by Eli Vokounova I once had a vision that lies at the base of my sense of meaning and how we’re all woven together. Perhaps what I saw will resonate with you, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-95","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":642,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95\/revisions\/642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonisensel.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}