What it means to matter

HI :3

I watched Hank Green’s video titled “Redefining What it Means to Matter” and I have to say, it struck something in me.

For the past few years I’ve been dealing with the question “do I really matter? Or do I just exist in this world?” It’s something that, although I’ve given a lot of thought on, my mind just goes in circles on. I’ve wondered to whom I matter to, what I can do to matter to anyone or anything, what I live for, etc. And I have to say, thinking this way has caused me more grief than finding actual answers. Watching Hank’s video gave me more perspectives on “What it Means to Matter”

Firstly, why do we want to matter anyway? As Hank said, humans crave meaning in their lives and to a certain extent, I agree with this. I guess it is just human nature to want to be able to have a place in this world or to be able to leave their mark in it. From my studies, we also looked at various motivational theories and several of them (such as Daniel Pink) mentioned that what drives humans nowadays is purpose. Because at the end of the day, if there isn’t any point in doing something, then why do it? Whether the purpose is directed towards yourself or others, it’s something that gives us direction or a path to work towards to in our lives.

Second, what does it actually mean to matter? Hank questions “when do we stop appreciating the work people do to make our lives better?” and my interpretation of this is, “when do we start taking things for granted?” (I’m not sure if this is exactly what he was trying to get us to think about when he posed the question but that is what I think of it.) Either way, it brings up the implication that, people must always keep achieving new things or goals in order to matter. In my opinion, this implication has been ingrained in us by society because we are bombarded with stories about others’ successes or fame and in order to matter, we must keep our own achievements up to par.

Now, I don’t agree with this implication because it also leads to the idea that people are never enough. And perhaps, this is where the constant questioning of “do I matter?” comes from. People have different perspectives of what it means to matter and sometimes, they measure the answer to this question against quantifiable things like, as Hank mentioned, fame and money. “If you have a certain amount of fame or money, then you matter this much”, which I do not agree with. And this isn’t something I actually want to argue about because it’s simply the opinion of others and I’m here to state my own.

After questioning my own purpose and watching this video, I realize that every single individual have their own answer to “what it means to matter”. For me, there different answers; a main one being: to make small differences in my life and others.

I’m the kind of person who usually puts others first before my own sake, especially if that person is someone who I care deeply about. I also started questioning myself about my purpose in one of the darker moments of my life which is why I now choose to make sure that I never go back to those areas, and I try my best not to let others go there either. I could do this by expressing my gratitude to them or complimenting them and I know that it may seem small but it has given my life a purpose. Ever since I started to appreciate the little things of other people, I started to do the same for myself.

It’s not the only thing that keeps me going in life but for now but it is very important to me. And it may not seem much at the moment, but if it could just somehow contribute to making mine and other people’s lives better then I’ll do it.

~little Purple.Mage

PS thank you for taking the time to read this, you’re awesome! 😀