Optimistic Nihilism: Nothing Matters…But Nothing Matters!

What’s the meaning of life? Well that’s a loaded question… Everyone has a different answer. Your outlook on life, religion or the way you were raised all have an effect on what you view as your purpose in life.

 A pessimist may view life as just something to get through. Everything is so expensive, life is too hard, nothing is even fun anymore, etc…And while those are all very valid thoughts, do you really think your purpose in life is to work that nine to five, come home, pay the bills, feed the kids, go to bed and wake up to do it all again? No, life wasn’t made to sluggishly wander through. 

Life is such a gift and humans are the only ones who get to experience it in such a fulfilling way. What other creature do you know of that gets to experience the infamous high school heartbreak? Bad example. Who else has the cognitive consciousness to experience the Sunday scaries? Oh. Well, maybe life has its sucky parts, but the best part about the idea of optimistic nihilism is that it doesn’t matter! There is no set purpose in life. We’re not working towards some end-all-be-all goal. Nothing. Matters! 

Wait, what even is optimistic nihilism? Yeah, nothing matters, but is that it? Really? Well, to put it simply: yeah, basically! Nihilism is defined as “the rejection of all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless.” But when we tack that “optimistic” in the front, it makes it positive! So yeah, life is meaningless, but in a happy way. Life is meaningless, so do whatever you want! Life is meaningless, so give it your own meaning. There’s no right or wrong, because there was never a meaning in the first place.

I think the purpose of life is to have a favorite song, meet your people and be, as cliche as it sounds, happy. My purpose in life is to keep my friends close, my family closer and to cherish every moment while it’s here. Your purpose is literally whatever you want. Is it scary to have that power? Yeah, of course. But the cool part is that your purpose can change as many times as you want. It’s not written in stone. Your purpose doesn’t even have to be a purpose. It could be: “Hey, let’s just get through life and see what happens along the way.” You have the power! Optimistic nihilism takes the pressure off of life. You can be happy doing what makes you happy, and that’s more than enough.