Affirming Life through Humanism
By Paul Kurtz

Joyful Exuberance

Humanists find exuberance to be intrinsically worthwhile for its own sake. This is usually identified with happiness but I add that, in joyful exuberance, there is high excitement, the intensity of living, throbbing with passion, engaging in daring activities of enterprise and adventure. Joyful exuberance is enhanced when we not only fulfil our needs and wants, but creatively express our goals and aspirations. It denotes some degree of excellence, nobility, even perfectibility, of a person's talents and achievements. It comes to fruition for those who find life intensely worth living and at times exhilarating.

More than that, it involves a flowering of one's personality in that person's own terms. And in its highest reaches it expresses the fullness and richness of living. This occurs when a person is able to realise his or her wants and talents, dreams and aspirations, and when a person is able to share the bountiful goods of life with others-children and parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, colleagues and neighbours-within the various communities of humankind. This is most eloquently achieved when there is moral growth and development: a person is able to appreciate the needs of others; there is a genuine willingness to relate to them, to love and be loved, to share and even to make sacrifices for their benefit.

Joyful immediacies are experienced when there is a flowering of life. This does not deny or ignore the pain and despair, defeat and failure, evil and tragedy that may befall a person, the unexpected contingencies of fate and fortune that may be encountered: intractable illness, premature death, betrayal, cowardice, dishonesty, or ingratitude.

The mature person has developed a reflective attitude that enables him or her to place these misadventures and setbacks, painful as they may be, in a broader context. He or she can compensate for the shortcomings of life by pointing to the times that he or she has overcome adversity; and he or she still finds life worth living because of poetry and profundity, laughter and delight, romance and love, discovery and ingenuity, enlightenment and success, and the times that he persevered and prevailed. If a person's career and life is like a work of art, then we need to appreciate its full collage, its contrasts and highlights, tones and shades, colours and forms. Marshalling some stoicism in periods of anxiety, hopefully a person will find that the good that one experiences can outbalance the bad, the positive the negative, and that optimism can master pessimism.

The affirmative person may sum up his or her life and declare that, after all is said and done, it was worth living, that though one may have some regrets for what one could have done but did not, or for what might have been but was not, all told it was good. And, ah, yes! Although there were periods of pain and sorrow, these were balanced by those of pleasure and joy. What an adventure it was-far better to have lived and experienced than not to have lived at all!
Creating Your Own Life Meanings

The meaning of life is not to be found in a secret formula discovered by ancient prophets or modern gurus, who withdraw from living to seek quiet contemplation and release. Life has no meaning per se; it does, however, present us with innumerable opportunities, which we can either squander and retreat from in fear or seize with exuberance.

It can be discovered by anyone and everyone who can energize an inborn zest for living. It is found within living itself, as it reaches out to create new conditions for experience.
Eating of the fruit of the Tree of Life gives us the bountiful enthusiasms for living. The ultimate value is the conviction that life can be found good in and of itself. Each moment has a kind of preciousness and attractiveness.

The so-called secret of life is an open scenario that can be deciphered by everyone. It is found in the experiences of living: the delights of a fine banquet, the strenuous exertion of hard work, the poignant melodies of a symphony, the appreciation of an altruistic deed, the excitement of an embrace of someone you love, the elegance of a mathematical proof, the invigorating adventure of a mountain climb, the satisfaction of quiet relaxation, the lusty singing of an anthem, the vigorous cheering in a sports contest, the reading of a delicate sonnet, the joys of parenthood, the pleasures of friendship, the quiet gratification of serving our fellow human beings-all of these activities and more.

It is in the present moment of experience as it is brought to fruition, as well as in the delicious memory of past experiences and the expectation of future ones, that the richness of life is exemplified and realized. The meaning of life is that it can be found to be good and beautiful and exciting on its own terms for ourselves, our loved ones, and other sentient beings. It is found in the satisfaction intrinsic to creative activities, wisdom, and righteousness. One doesn't need more than that and, hopefully, one will not settle for less.

The meaning of life is tied up intimately with our plans and projects, the goals we set for ourselves, and our dreams and the successful achievement of them. We create our own conscious meanings; we invest the cultural and natural worlds with our own interpretations. Life, when fully lived under a variety of cultural conditions, can be euphoric and optimistic; it can be a joy to experience and a wonder to behold.

The above are extracts from:
Eupraxsophy Revisited, by Paul Kurtz, republished from Free Inquiry Magazine, Vol 24, Num 6, June/July 2006

Paul Kurtz is editor-in-chief of Free Inquiry, professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and chair of the Center for Inquiry.