infinite meaning
Earlier this week, I was watching the first season of Ted Lasso.
(It’s an incredibly charming show that you have to see if you haven’t already. It’s funny. It’s smart. It has heart. And it makes you feel good. It’s great.)
It is now in its second season. But I’ve seen enough of the first one.
The show philosophically resonates with me, you see. I see it as a meditation on how loving (if imperfect) people living in and with imperfect systems can find a better way.
A way that works best for everyone.
In any case, the point is that I was watching a scene that I’ve seen more than a few times.
I won’t spoil anything for you.
What’s important is that it’s a scene where a character goes from being excited about the prospect of a one-night stand to receiving a text that seems to kill their excitement.
But this time…
This time I realized something new.
Something different in the facial expressions of the actress.
There was a different look on his face. Not just that the buzz of him was killed.
It was something deeper.
It was some kind of strange, sad emptiness which, to the brilliant actress’s credit, really moved me when I noticed it!
Noticing this small detail of a character’s facial expressions, I was able to find even more meaning in a scene I had seen a long time before.
This reminded me of a powerful lesson that is near and dear to my heart:
Life is an infinite web of meaning
Life is made up of all kinds of texts from the media we consume…
At references to such means people develop…
For meme people to create from such media…
There really is an infinite web of meaning with interconnected layers that are all around us.
There is always more and more meaning being created.
And you can always find more meaning in something.
You can always ZOOM IN.
You can always focus your attention and notice some new detail.
Like I did when I watched an episode I thought I already knew in full.
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You can always ZOOM OUT.
You can always try to understand how something fits in a larger context.
Like when you realize an episode references rom-com tropes.
Or when you realize the author is making a larger moral or political argument in the way the character dynamics play out.
Like when an overconfident tragic hero is finally betrayed by friends they should never have trusted.
And when zooming in/out…
You can always ZOOM IN/OUT AGAIN!
You can always zoom in and notice more details. Like noticing in what other scenes the character makes that face or other similar ones. Noticing when that same feeling takes over his spirit. And asking why.
And you can always zoom out and contextualize things further. When considering what other tragic heroes share a similar fate. And what other similar (but not tragic) could avoid or overcome such betrayals.
This applies not only to the media piece.
But to all kinds of spaces and places.
The entire world is an infinite web of meaning.
In this way, there is no limit to the amount of meaning you can derive from life.
All by yourself.
You have the power to find more and more meaning in everything around you.
You have the power to enjoy the stories you love even more.
You have the power to find happiness by being a dedicated reader of life’s infinite web of meaning.
You do not need anything else.
Just a willing mind. Willing to become entangled in the infinite web of meaning that surrounds us.
So, go and read this web.
And empower yourself to get more meaning and happiness from everything around you.