Meaning is a Photograph That You Have to Click Yourself

You move to a new city, and this is the first time you're walking around, taking in these streets you've never seen before. You walk by this cathedral-esque structure which feels a bit out of place from its surrounding environment, but you realize it's a school, seeing all the school buses and kids in uniforms. It's an old stone constructed building whose exterior shows it's lived through and seen generations of human life. It vaguely reminds you of a place you might have seen before, but you pay no heed to the thought, as you've just walked by a couple thousand buildings and another hundred streets through the day, and it might just be your minds way of making things feel more familiar. You continue listening to the song you were listening to, happily humming along because it is your favorite song.

Your day goes on, and nothing special happens for the rest of it. Later that day your brother calls you and you have your usual conversation. He asks you how your day was and what you did. You answer in your typical fashion, thinking for a second about speaking about that building, but other than the fact that it looked familiar, you didn't have much to say about it, so you skip it and end the topic by saying nothing too much happened; just the usual walk around the city, getting to know the place.

Now, let's roll back time and consider again the same day spent in exactly the same way, but this time, you have a more keen eye for observation. You walk by this cathedral-esque structure which feels a bit out of place from its surrounding environment, and just as you realize it's a school, you don't just pass it by. You're certain you've seen this place before. Your favorite song continues to play through your headphones, but a sudden jolt strikes you and tells you this might just be the place where the song you're listening to was filmed! You open YouTube and quickly fast forward through the video looking for the exact location. It is! You're at the location of the place where the song you're listening to was filmed. How can it be! What a coincidence - the world works in mysterious ways, you think to yourself.

You have an idea - you go to the printer shop opposite on the street and print a still from the music video. You go back, align it carefully and take a photo. Ah what a great day, you say. Later that evening, your brother calls you, and you have so much to tell him! All of a sudden, this place has become one of your favorite spots in the city.

Taken from @murtaza.ametwala on Instagram.

The mere act of having known something remarkable, something personal, that you hold close to your heart happened gives the object, the place, the person, a significant sense of meaning to you. It is an individual effort that you put in on your own; dig a layer deeper to uncover why you like something, to actively spending conscious effort to work towards a higher goal, to get to know something or someone from more than just on the surface, and there, you will find a sense of meaning. 

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This has been something I've wanted to write about ever sense I saw Meaning is a jumper you have to knit yourself years ago. Do watch it. Oh and also, the song above is Sadda Haq - it hasn't ever been a favorite song of mine / song that I listen to much, and I don't think writing this will change that.