Bringing Meaning to the Words

[DISCLAIMER]

In my youth, I could hardly wait to be grown (old and mature enough to live on one’s own). When living with my dad and stepmom from half of fifth to half of seventh grade, that’s what I heard. “Don’t think you[’re] grown just yet,” or, “Wait till you[’re] grown,” they’d often say.

“What would it be like to one day live as a grown man?” I wondered. In my naiveté, I envisioned a wonderful experience of adulthood relating to hedonism (the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life).

According to one source, “Axiological hedonism is the view that pleasure is the sole source of intrinsic value. It asserts that other things, like knowledge and money, only have value insofar as they produce pleasure and reduce pain.” As a kid, I wanted to experience a hedonic grownup life.

Shortly after I turned 18 – the legal age of majority, not much changed in the way of my pleasure and happiness. In fact, soon after graduating high school and moving back in with my dad and stepmom, I experienced a significant bout of depression. Those were relatively dark times!

A few years thereafter, Houston lyricist Scarface released My Homies (1998), his fifth studio album. It featured the track “Do What You Want” by rapper and singer Devin the Dude. I enjoyed the jam quite a bit when stationed in Okinawa, Japan! Those were relatively light times!

Noteworthy, the song was subsequently contained on The Dude (1998), Devin the Dude’s debut solo studio album, under the title “Do What You Wanna Do”. Lyrics include the following:

[Chorus]

Do what tha fuck you wanna do (Go ahead and just)

Say what tha fuck you wanna say

Do what tha fuck you wanna do (Go ahead and just)

Say what tha fuck you wanna say

[Hook]

What did it all mean?

Say what you want, ho, ya grown

You make decisions on your own

No one would suffer but you

So do what tha fuck you wanna do

At first glance, the chorus encourages the same sort of hedonic lifestyle I envisioned in my youth. However, the hook explores matters relating to purpose and meaning.

Purpose is something set up as an end to be attained (i.e., by intent). Per one source, “Purpose is an abiding intention to achieve a long-term goal that is both personally meaningful and makes a positive mark on the world. It is part of the topic of intentionality and goal-seeking behavior.”

Meaning is both the thing one intends to convey, especially by language, and something that has significant quality (i.e., achieved or retained value). Per one source, “[M]eaning ‘is a relationship between two sorts of things: signs and the kinds of things they intend, express, or signify.”

Whereas purpose relates to what one intentionally does (e.g., effort toward a goal), meaning is the relationship between one’s effort and success with a goal (e.g., satisfaction upon completion). Thus, purpose is what one does, and meaning is worth derived from fulfilment of one’s purpose.

The hook of Devin the Dude’s song infers that the hip hop artist is aware of how one can hedonistically do whatever one wants; though, the rapper and singer simultaneously invites one to ask, “What did it all mean?” In essence, what was the value of purpose-driven hedonism?

I didn’t fully appreciate this interpreted meaning until much later in life. Now, I contemplate this track when considering the psychotherapeutic modality which I practice and a book that I’ve been steadily reading.

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Much as the lesson of “Do What You Wanna Do” highlights the relationship between purpose and meaning, as well as consequential suffering, wisdom of the Stoics teaches about this connection. For instance, authors of The Daily Stoic quote Epictetus who stated (page 100):

Eat like a human being, drink like a human being, dress up, marry, have children, get politically active—suffer abuse, bear with a headstrong brother, father, son, neighbor, or companion. Show us these things so we can see that you truly have learned from the philosophers.

What may be learned from Stoic philosophers when carrying on about one’s usual activities? Beginning to answer this question, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 100):

Plutarch, a Roman biographer as well as an admirer of the Stoics, didn’t begin his study of the greats of Roman literature until late in life. But, as he recounts in his biography of Demosthenes, he was surprised at how quickly it all came to him.

He wrote, “It wasn’t so much that the words brought me into a full understanding of events, as that, somehow, I had a personal experience of the events that allowed me to follow closely the meaning of the words.”

Without experience, my youthful concept of what it meant to be grown was based on ignorance (lack of knowledge, education, or awareness). Truly, being an adult didn’t mean that I’d enjoy seemingly endless pleasure or happiness. About this, authors of The Daily Stoic add (page 100):

This is what Epictetus means about the study of philosophy. Study, yes, but go live your life as well. It’s the only way that you’ll actually understand what any of it means. And more important, it’s only from your actions and choices over time that it will be possible to see whether you took any of the teachings to heart.

Only after decades of experience beyond living with my dad and stepmom were the teachings of Stoic philosophers truly meaningful to me. My purpose was to live with the inevitable ups and downs of life. My meaning then related to the value of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.

Had I sought only hedonic pleasure and happiness, then I would’ve missed out on the invaluable meaning I eventually attained. Concluding this psychoeducational lesson, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 100):

Be aware of that today when you’re going to work, going on a date, deciding whom to vote for, calling your parents in the evening, waving to your neighbor as you walk to your door, tipping the delivery man, saying goodnight to someone you love. All of that is philosophy. All of it is experience that brings meaning to the words.

Bringing meaning to the words of Stoicism is what I’ve demonstrated in the first part of this blogpost. In specific, I illustrated an earlier worldview, contrasted that perspective with a Devin the Dude song, and then revealed a different outlook.

Devin the Dude asked, “What did it all mean?” I think I have a personal answer. Doing what tha fuck I wanna do may be fun (purpose), though value derived from missing out on how to tolerate and accept hardship would then be lost (meaning). Thus, I reject unbalanced hedonism.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit (edited), fair use

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