What does it mean to be “meant” to do something? Leaving out the divine or pre-ordained or karmic, let us just reflect on what this means with respect to the non-transcendent life. As college students, we are on the road. We are at a juncture in our lives in which we seek – or have imposed on us – a door we want to step through. We have many different reasons among our population for what we want, don’t want, or don’t know and why we are acting in the manner that we are. For some, the feeling is, “I am meant to do this.”
For a while I thought this was merely a rationalization of one’s desired – or obligated – pursuits. I saw it as a shallow conception of one’s life in this supposedly absurd world. However, as of late I have begun to realize a directionality in my own life. I see a narrative of sorts taking shape with particular details and events bridging to create my “path.” I remain skeptical, but I find myself feeling “meant.”
The reason I share this is because it has made me realize the importance of finding or searching for the “meant” at this point in our lives. Yet, it is not to search in the hope of succumbing to it; for to succumb to it is to chain yourself to the uncertain. We are already victims of the future, we must maintain for as long as we can the ability to roam in its abyss. And it is now more an abyss than any other time as college students. “Meant” can serve as a guiding light – but this light can reveal separate doorways all the same.
“Meant” is a dream – in both senses of the word. The fundamental component of both though is its malleable nature. “Meant” can guide us, but lead us to an array of destinations.
Now there is the question of how we find “meant.” As I said of my own experience, we find “meant” by looking back on our lives and finding the narrative currents in it – the wavelengths of experience that make us laugh or cry, smile or scowl. We trace these wavelengths up into our present moment. Which current you apply where only you can tell – but then again, tracing these wavelengths may end up telling you. The key is synchronicity in your life. It is this synchronicity that will confirm your “meant.”
I do not want to suggest this will be apparent (although it may very well be). However, we have to know how to look before we can find. Better yet, we have to know to look in the first place. And you will be surprised that when you begin to look, even if you do not find the answer right away, you find many others that you were not counting on. Thus, what I am proposing is not just a way to declare a major – but it is a way of comprehending our lives. We cannot induce change where we do not understand. And we cannot understand what we do not explore. So excavate your lives and put together the fossil pieces of your narrative. I can’t say when, but you’ll probably end up seeing something that looks a lot more like you than the person in the mirror – and maybe a major you like (or don’t hate) while you’re at it. Then you can explore “meant” for itself.
