Significance

Many people have different meanings for significance. Some believe that if something is significant, it's important and influential. Others think of significances as omens or prophecies of the future, a prediction that can be of good or bad fortune. Regardless of which definition you choose to adopt, there are many instances in which the word is used accurately in day-to-day life.

Significance can refer to how much importance something has - usually tangible goods such as money - but it can also mean how valuable someone is to others as well as themselves - a more abstract concept often seen with self-development. In everyday life, there are so many different ways in which the word is used, and it's interesting to see how this often results in a negative connotation.

Whether you're a teenager wanting to show off your new car, a student seeking to make friends with the cool kids in class or just a person trying to climb the social ladder at work, significance can mean everything, and getting it wrong can be devastating. The media bombards us with messages that tell us what is significant or not. From clothes and social status to income and physical appearance - everything from this perspective is often equated with success and happiness.

However, there are many instances and many ways in which we can achieve significance. Some of the most significant people in history were probably the ones who did not actively seek it out, as they just wanted to do what they did best. They weren't trying to get themselves (or other people) all worked up over how significant or insignificant they were or weren't, but lived their lives without a care in the world.

This is where I think cultural significance comes from: where one person's idea of significance differs from another's. When there's no general agreement on what's significant, both sides tend to take up arms in an attempt to prove the other side wrong.

In today's society, we're bombarded with a false belief that if someone does something important, it must be significant. This is the illusion that makes up most of what we see on television, in the newspaper and even in everyday conversation: it allows us (or so we think) to paint a picture of a world that consists only of clearly defined significant individuals.

What we've come to accept as significant is often just as arbitrary as what people do not believe is significant. There's a big difference between being significant and being unusual; there's a big difference between being significant to a society and being significant to yourself.

In traditional society, it was the latter that counted for the most - not how many things you did or how famous you became, but what was most important about your life. You made your own significance, without the interference of other people or outside forces; you made your own significance within yourself. You had no idea what was going on in other people's lives or even in history as a whole; you only knew your own. This is why meaning so much to one person can be entirely different from meaning so much to another: they are two points on completely different lines.

So it's obvious what we need to do: realize that there is no ultimate significance. There is none in the way the media presents it, and there's even less in real life. Significance is an arbitrary quality that can be much different from person to person. By not looking for it so much and not having it depend on what other people do or do not, we can perhaps find more meaning and significance in our own lives than if the existence of a universal consensus was the only thing we had to go by.

To send this article to a friend, click here .

If you learned something from this article, let us know! You can also leave your comment below on our Facebook page.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Full name: Email (optional): Your website URL: Your message:

Read the entire article on She Is Beautiful by Jeremy Michaud, who invites you to explore his

© 2008 Jeremy Michaud, All Rights Reserved Read the entire article on She Is Beautiful by Jeremy Michaud, who invites you to explore his philosophy of living and learn how to implement it in all aspects of your life.© 2008 Jeremy Michaud, All Rights Reserved http://sheisbeautifulblog.blogspot.com/ 2008-07-01T07:40:00.000Z Category: Article

Vulnerability Makes You Interesting, Not Weak Every time I read a book, a magazine article, or watch a movie (or even look at the cover of this one), I get excited about what it says and what it doesn't say. I want to figure out how to make my life more like that story. Then somewhere in the middle of reading, watching or looking at magazines or books, something shifts and becomes difficult to ignore; a thought occurs to me. Like I can see what they're trying to say, but it's not clicking with me. It's part of a broader message: Be vulnerable. Be this person. Be this way in your life. Don't be so hard on yourself!

This is a very common theme in books and magazines, videos and movies. And when I see it, it makes me uncomfortable, because I'm not that person or that story any more.

So let's discuss this more. First, I want to be able to articulate why it makes me uncomfortable. So, in the next entry, I want to go back to this issue and break it down into smaller elements that may not be obvious when you're hearing a new idea for the first time.

So what is a vulnerable person? What does it really mean? And is there a difference between being vulnerable and being interesting? A vulnerable person is one who "hurts so much that they can't help but heal." They are often willing to show tenderness with their feelings or affection with their intentions, and at times, even their physical body. They give expression to the feelings they have inside (not necessarily in a "showy" way, but in a way that is real and authentic), so that they don't have to hide anything.

Vulnerability is about being open and genuine with your thoughts, feelings, emotions and intentions. From there, you can express yourself in a clear and sincere way that allows others to see the real you. It's true that you don't have to be vulnerable all the time; it's okay if you're not feeling very vulnerable or if there are some things that are still difficult for you to express. You can let them come out later when you're feeling more comfortable or safe.

Conclusion:

When you're vulnerable, you are authentic, and people can see the real you. When you're open about your thoughts, feelings, emotions and intentions, others can see the real you. When you're vulnerable, then it's easier to be yourself in your life.

© 2008 Jeremy Michaud, All Rights Reserved © 2008 Jeremy Michaud, All Rights Reserved http://sheisbeautifulblog.blogspot.com/ 2008-06-25T04:38:00.000Z Category: Article

Is Life Meaningful? Everyone wants to know if life has meaning or not...but they want it to have meaning while they live their lives without any kind of weakness or potential for pain.