Vikings Lagertha on the Meaning of Life

[FlyersFan]

Years ago there was a TV show called Vikings.  There was a main character named Lagertha.  In the show, Lagertha had a near death experience.  She died and came back.  The Vikings all asked her what she learned and what was the meaning of life.  She replied with this -

"The only thing that I have learned is that life is about suffering. There's no escape from it. That's the truth. What's important is how we deal with suffering, how we deal with the truth,"

So the question is ... do you agree with Lagertha on the meaning of life?   Is it all about suffering and what we do with that suffering?  Or did she get it wrong and it's really about something else? 

What do you think the meaning of life is ... or if there is any meaning of life at all?

There are times that I actually agree with her.  It's all about suffering.  Everything in life revolves around suffering and trying not to suffer.  Everything.  And yet, suffering is what keeps life going.  Everything on earth that is alive, lives because something else died for it to live.  Even the grass we walk on are alive because something died to fertilize the soil that it grows in.   The 'circle of life' is really a 'circle of death'.

Gloomy but there it is.

[Maxmars]

It's hard to simply agree with the words a character says, without considering what the author meant to portray as an element of the plot.  But I think I know to what you are referring.

Suffering, is a matter of our perceptions, ultimately.  Many religons and philosophies have made much of this very common perception regarding the difficulties we encounter in life.  But all of those difficulties, like illness, loss, pain, and regret often constitute a core to our suffering.  We embrace it, as we embrace everything.

I tend to disagree with the idea that life is 'about' suffering. 

It's just that suffering is an undeniable, in your face, aspect touching everything we try to do and experience over the course of our lives.  It is especially troublesome when we presume to control it.  It becomes the 'star player' in our sense of 'the play'... it becomes more than the plot, more than the motivation, it assumes the center of the stage and dominates everything around it... much the same as fear.  It engenders its own persistence.

I would rather think (not that it's any more valid then the assertion) that life is about how we 'interface' with suffering - amongst so many other things.  Seeking to control or eliminate it are vane efforts to make real the idea that everything as all about 'me.'  So we sink into it, make it the drumbeat of our existence... which is probably a mistake - assuming it is not a suitable drumbeat.

If, or when, our world is dominated with suffering - we are being called to "do something" about it.  That something is presumably meant to 'eliminate' it... but a life without suffering is a strange and distincly 'unhuman' thing.  it is normal to suffer, just as it is normal to drive towards the truth.  I think suffering may be largely about perspective.  It is a motivator towards eliminating mental immobility, the ultimate engenderer of personal change.

[FlyersFan]

I tend to disagree with the idea that life is 'about' suffering. 

All I know is that suffering seems to permeate everything.  Everything about life seems to be us trying to avoid suffering of some kind.  I thought the words of the fictional character were pretty accurate.   (I say fictional ... but many in that part of the world believe that she was real).

[Maxmars]

All I know is that suffering seems to permeate everything.  Everything about life seems to be us trying to avoid suffering of some kind.  I thought the words of the fictional character were pretty accurate.   (I say fictional ... but many in that part of the world believe that she was real).

Oh, please forgive me!  

In my ignorance I assumed the character was only a conceptual creation.  I'm not really familiar with the show or its content.  I would never intend to diminish a character of seminal cultural significance.  That’s not my nature.

Yes, it can be that suffering is humanity’s longest companion.  I know some have claimed to master it, or designate is as some kind of 'virtue,' but my experience with it tells me my own story, just as your does to you.  I think that's what makes suffering so difficult to define.  

We tend often to assume that we mean the same thing, just because we're using the same word... but I have found that it is frequently not the case.  We all have a central arbiter within us, it says what it means... not what others think.  Many times those definitions are different enough to cause real disconnects... which in and of itself is just one way in which we suffer. /irony