At 1:35 AM, kept awake by a noisy neighbour, the question popped into my head: Why are we here? The answer you choose – whether it’s spiritual, philosophical, or practical – shapes how you actually live your life. This post explores different ways people answer that question, and invites you to figure out yours.
Welcome to a few rough, half-baked, middle-of-the-night thoughts.
For some people, being highly concerned about getting back to sleep to prep for work is totally normal. On the contrary, others might consider a sleepless night an opportunity or even a calling to get up and start creating something, as I did.
This post isn’t me trying to definitively answer the question. It’s more like a late-night wander through a few ideas people lean on, depending on where they are in life. I don’t think there’s just one right answer, but as we explore these different paths, one might feel closer to home for you than the others.
Most of us don’t ask why we’re here when life is going smoothly; I guess we ask it when something feels off.
Table of Contents
A Late-Night Buffet of Theories
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Just like the great song by The Verve, for many people, life seems to just be a bittersweet struggle to make money and survive. ‘Tryin’ to make ends meet, you’re a slave to the money, then you die.’
Because life’s default script – the “rat race” – often feels like school, job, bills, retirement, and repeat, if you are questioning “Is this really it?”, this bittersweet outlook on life can indeed resonate.
Philosophers like Albert Camus called this “Absurdism,” comparing human life to pushing a boulder up a hill for eternity. But Camus concluded we must find meaning in the struggle itself.
It should be said that some people do find dignity in the daily grind, and the small pleasures in between that offset the struggle, like a cup of coffee after a hard day, the opportunity to work for family, etc.
What makes this one hit is that everything can look “fine” on the surface – you’re working, earning, and keeping things together – but still feel slightly off underneath.
It’s All About Soul
Billy Joel may be on to something when he sings that life is all about soul. ‘All about faith and a deeper devotion’.
If this is true, maybe learning to read the Bible might tell us more. The idea of faith to me, suggests accepting that we are not in control, and to therefore fear nothing. And expect that all things will work out – if we keep the faith that they will. And if they don’t, trusting that those events are necessary for growth.
The Stoics called this Amor Fati, a love of one’s fate.
Soul and faith don’t have to be religious. The soul could be the part of you that recognizes beauty, feels injustice, and gets moved by music. Faith could relate to a fundamental trust in the universe. Of course, giving up control is easier said than done when fear is so often dangled in front of us like a carrot.
Faith sounds peaceful – until you realise it means giving up control.
Spirituality and Religion
For some people, the reason we’re here is like a test or way to live a heavenly life on earth, like deities from religious books. The hope is that if we seek the Kingdom of Heaven, God will give us everything we need to have a happy, plentiful life here on Earth, and eventually earn a place in heaven.
There’s also the concept of “stewardship” found in many religions – the idea that we are here to be caretakers of the Earth, to help and support our colleagues, teams, and neighbours.
At this point, I realised none of these ideas were helping me sleep – but they were making me think differently about being awake.
Spiritual Enlightenment
Some monks consider the quest for spiritual enlightenment to be the meaning of life. To have a sense of perfect inner peace and feel like one with the universe. I’d love to talk to monks who say they’ve reached this.
The idea of solitude and meditation is peaceful, but I’ve heard it can take years to get to an enlightened state. I’m not sure I have the patience for that. Then again, a famous Zen proverb says: “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” Perhaps the peace just comes from being present in the work, even if it’s not always exciting.
Be Like a Child
On the subject of patience, children enjoy playing and don’t stress about work. They focus on the enjoyment of doing things they want to do, be it drawing, playing with Lego, or running in the park. They are authentic in their expression of living to have fun.
As I lay awake, concerned about getting back to sleep before farming work, I realized the child in me was suggesting I start writing these notes down. After all, this blog is my fun time, my passion, something I’m building. It’s my version of Lego – completely absorbing when you’re in it, although maybe pointless to some people.
The nervous adult in me was calculating sleep hours, but my inner child was reminding me that farming doesn’t require a perfect sleep every night.
As I’ve gotten older and realized there is less time left, I try not to put work on a pedestal and welcome the voice of my inner child more. Embracing life like a child means living in wonderment, without excessive fear, and putting joy at the top of the list.
Authenticity (Your Soul’s Expression)
It’s not easy in society to be your authentic self. Yet, some people consider life a challenge to simply live as the person you naturally are. Perhaps the logic with these people is that you can’t find happiness pretending to be someone you’re not.
Psychologist Carl Jung called this stripping away the “Persona” (the mask we wear for society).
This comes from the idea that you’re a soul having a human experience, sent here to express your real personality. Not living authentically risks you becoming unfulfilled and stressed, succumbing to a mundane, robotic, lemming-type lifestyle of just fitting in and following the crowd.
It requires a degree of courage to follow your own path and resist peer pressure.
The Matrix
Since the popular movie The Matrix, many use the term the matrix to suggest life is a simulation. In philosophy, this is known as the Simulation Hypothesis. If this is a simulation, perhaps we might consider life nothing more than a game and live it as we will.
If we are just here in a physical reality to simply experience physicality, we should make the most of the ride.
Even if this is some kind of game, it still feels real at 2 AM when you’re tired and thinking about work.
OBEs / NDEs
This leads us to those who have experienced Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) and Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). This is where people say they leave their bodies and immediately realize we can live outside of the body, and we can travel to other realms and worlds and even other times.
If you can honestly feel that we are spirits having a human experience, then there really is nothing to fear at all in this physical reality. After having an OBE, some people say they are driven to help others experience and understand this peaceful concept. Some report coming back into their body with not just rejuvenated beliefs, but enhanced spiritual gifts which ultimately help them to help others.
Fight Against Adversity
When we live in a world that seems fake to people at times, with lies, cover-ups, conspiracy theories, and alleged false flag operations, one has to consider that we might be here to stand up for ourselves.
To learn to have faith against adversity. To push back against the invisible enemy. To risk death by facing Goliath when you look and feel like David.
If this resonates with you, maybe learning to have courage and authenticity are part of your soul’s mission here – if having a soul is indeed a thing.
Fear is Always on the Menu
When you’ve lived long enough, you realize that thanks to radio, TV and the internet, fear has always been on the menu. We are constantly bombarded with fear-mongering events or news (some clearly fake) which often boils down to control. I even used to imagine that the spelling of Earth included most of the letters of the word ‘fear’.
Reptilians Feed Off of Our Fear
Some YouTubers are recently cashing in on old theories that a shapeshifting reptilian race runs this planet and feeds off our fear.
While this is a bit sci-fi for me, we can look at it psychologically: we all possess a “reptilian brain” (the basal ganglia), which is responsible for our primal fight-or-flight instincts.
Whether it’s actual reptilian shapeshifters or just corrupt politicians, the ultimate human battle is overcoming that primal fear and not letting external forces harvest our energy.
Thanks to strange news stories of celebrities and their alleged clones, people are talking about it again.
Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t care at my age even if a family member shapeshifted into a hippopotamus. It beats the mundane, and to each their own!
Whether any of this is true or not, the common thread is fear, and how easily it shapes how we see the world.
Collective Consciousness
For many people, life is simply about a special kind of science. We are potentially all connected souls collectively creating a tapestry of life. Carl Jung called this the “Collective Unconscious.”
If this is true, then the quickest way to create a powerful change might be to influence huge amounts of people to believe or think in the same way. I sometimes imagine that the weather report works this way – if you tell the populace it will rain on a certain day, perhaps it will if enough souls believe it into reality.
It Can’t Be Random
I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that life cannot be random. We live on a perfectly round sphere, timed to perfection with light, gravity, heating, and a moon. Science actually calls this the Anthropic Principle – the observation that the universe’s physical laws are suspiciously perfect for life. Nature even produces all the plants and nutrition we need. It feels designed.
If that’s true, then maybe we’re not here by accident – and any feeling that something matters isn’t as random as it seems.
Or maybe it just means we’re really good at looking for meaning, especially at 2 AM when the thinking doesn’t switch off.
Alan Watts
The reassuringly calm voice of the late Alan Watts can be heard online in many a YouTube video.
His core philosophy about life was simply that you are not a separate ego locked in a bag of skin. As he famously put it, you are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.
It’s not that far from how children live. They don’t ask what the point is, they just get absorbed in whatever they’re doing.
If you take that idea seriously, it changes how you move through the day. You might pay a bit more attention, take things less seriously, or just stop trying to control everything so much.
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth, as portrayed in the Bible, demonstrated many unique skills that seemed otherworldly. It makes you wonder whether faith itself was part of what made that possible.
The character Neo in The Matrix had unique skills also based on a kind of faith in what was possible. They both fit the archetype of the hero who realizes the physical rules of the world are malleable.
To be able to exert such talents to bring about physical changes in this world, might suggest that this life is indeed a simulation or game of sorts – if it can be manipulated by pure belief.
Whether that’s literal or symbolic, it raises the same question: How much of what we think is “fixed” might be more flexible than we realise?
Final Thoughts: Creating Your Own Reality
Ultimately, the answer to this frustrating question might just come down to free will and spiritual growth. If life is a school of sorts, perhaps our personal fears, weaknesses, and the mundane routines we get stuck in are simply part of the curriculum.
In fact, daily life can sometimes feel so relentlessly mundane that a part of us actively craves something else – regardless of the potential fear factor that comes with stepping into the unknown.
But there is a catch: we run the risk of creating our own subjective reality. The world outside might just be a neutral, level playing field, but if you’ve built up a reality in your mind governed by stress, you might feel like you are stuck on a terrible ride. We can become prisoners of our own thoughts.
Perhaps the best remedy is taking a time-out from the TV, unplugging from the internet, and getting back into nature. Finding peace in solitude is often the quickest way to get out of your own head.
To deal with all of this, you probably need some kind of faith. What “faith” means to one person will naturally be completely different to another.
Regardless of the grand, cosmic reason we are here, we still have to manage the human basics: getting enough sleep, maintaining our mental health, communicating with each other, and finding moments of quiet.
So, why are we here? Maybe this question isn’t something we answer once. Maybe it just shows up now and then – to nudge us back toward something that feels a little more alive.
A Genuine Thought on Despair
Finally, I’d like to offer a truly personal thought to anyone reading this who might be in despair or a difficult mental space. Since there’s no clear answer to why we are here, we are actually quite free. Why not use that freedom to explore ways to be happier and more comfortable?
Change your daily routines. If your schedule allows it, mix up the things you do. If you always take the same route somewhere, try different paths just for different scenery. Focus on living a little more authentically without so much concern, remaining peaceful and kind.
The most important thing is not to ultimately give up. Time really does heal wounds, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
It sometimes pays to be almost ‘crazy’ or open-minded enough to think outside the box and just be you.
If your search for answers is coming from a place of deep struggle, please, hold on. Don’t Throw in the Towel.
FAQs
Do I have to pick just one of these theories?
Absolutely not. Think of this page like a buffet. You might take a scoop of “Inner Child” fun, mix it with a dash of “Alan Watts” philosophy, and keep some “Matrix” simulation theory on the side just in case. Your personal reason for being here can be a blend of all of them, and it might even change depending on the day of the week – or how much sleep you got.
Is it a waste of time to think about this at 2 AM instead of sleeping?
From a strictly productivity-focused “adult” perspective? Probably. If you have to work the next day, you need sleep. But from the perspective of living an authentic life? It might be the most valuable time you have. Sometimes the noise of the day drowns out the quiet whisper of your actual soul. If you’re awake, you might as well listen.
What if I can’t afford to be my “authentic self” because of my job?
This is the ultimate “Bitter Sweet Symphony” struggle. We have to pay bills. But being authentic doesn’t necessarily mean quitting your job and moving to a cave. It can be small things: protecting your “fun time” (like this blog is for me), listening to the music you love, or just speaking your truth quietly rather than going along with the “lemming” crowd. It requires courage, but not always a revolution.
If this is all just a simulation or a game, do my choices even matter?
They matter because it’s a game. The goal of a game isn’t just to reach the end screen (which we all do eventually); the goal is to play it well and have an interesting experience. Even if Neo can bend the rules of the Matrix, he still makes choices that define who he is. We are here to experience the physicality, so the choices we make in this simulation are the whole point.
So, why are we here?
Ultimately, it comes down to free will and what you choose to believe. We get to choose our meaning, whether that is experiencing physicality, seeking spiritual enlightenment, or just showing up to work the next day. Regardless of the grand reason, we still have to manage the basics: sleep, communication, mental health, and finding peace in our daily lives.
Related Reflections on OldDogZeroTricks
If this idea resonates with you, you might also enjoy:
- What If Death Isn’t The End?
- Spiritual, Open-Minded, or Just Crazy?
- It’s Important To Get Out Of Your Own Head
