Excellence Reporter: Matthew, what is the meaning of life?

Matthew Shipp: Life is a great gift that should be cherished — each one of us is a unique presentation of the universe and there is something that each of our beings — brain chemistry and brain structure understands about the structure of the cosmos in a way that is a unique language unto ourselves. It seems to me that if a meaning of life can be conjectured it is discovering that unique thing you understand — developing it, and then living your life out from that particular center.

That unique language that you have embedded deep in your psyche/soul can be notes on a  musical instrument, words on a paper, colors on a canvas, acts of kindness and  understanding, the ability to deal with people with patience, an ability to run a certain business etc., etc. — it can manifest in billions of modes. Whatever it is it is something  intrinsically tied up into your very nature. It is your secret with whatever generates space /time-whatever you want to call that [some use a word called god]—it is something you were born to do — something you had an intuition of the day you entered space/time.

So it is a process of discovering yourself.

Yourself should be the easiest thing to get to for it is like breathing, it is just you-it is there-it is natural—that is why it is called your nature—but paradoxically it is the hardest thing to get to for all the layers of socialization—education and other rituals of making sure someone as a fit member of society obfuscates and buries any natural impulse one has to do their god given work that is inside of them-and that is granted by the universe. To get back to you and to do your work-whatever that is—that is freedom – and is to me what gives this gift called life meaning.

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~Matthew Shipp, is an American pianist, composer and bandleader.
www.MatthewShipp.com

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