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Welcome. I'm Ray Bates.

I taught philosophy for thirty-five years at a small college in Vermont. I've read Aristotle, Camus, the Stoics. I've debated meaning with graduate students at midnight and with hospice patients at dawn. And after all that reading and talking and thinking, here's what I know for certain:

The question matters more than the answer.

If you're here at 3 AM wondering what it's all for, you're not broken. You're awake. Most people never ask. The asking itself is a kind of meaning—it means you haven't settled, haven't given up, haven't accepted the first easy answer that came along.

Where to Start

If everything feels empty right now:

• When Life Feels Empty — Start here. No false hope, just honesty.
• The Meaning Crisis — You're not alone in this. It's a cultural moment, not a personal failure.

If you're searching for purpose:

• The Search For Purpose — The difference between finding and creating meaning
• Purpose Vs Happiness — They're not the same thing, and that matters
• Work And Purpose — When your job isn't your calling

If you've lost something or someone:

• Finding Purpose After Loss — When the thing that gave you meaning is gone
• Meaning In Suffering — The hardest question I've ever tried to answer

If you want to build something:

• Creating Something Larger — Legacy, contribution, leaving a mark
• Legacy And Purpose — What will remain when you're gone?
• Small Acts That Matter — Not everything meaningful is grand

The Writers Here

I'm not alone in this project. The writers here have each wrestled with meaning in their own way:

• Gertrude Carroll — A former nun who left the convent and found meaning outside the walls
• Kyle Smith — An electrician who discovered that building things with your hands is its own answer
• Francisco Meyer — A man who lost everything and had to rebuild meaning from scratch

We don't agree on everything. That's the point. Meaning isn't a formula—it's a conversation.

A Note on This Wiki

This isn't a self-help site with seven easy steps. If you want quick answers, you won't find them here. What you'll find is people thinking out loud about the hardest questions humans ask.

Some of what's here will resonate. Some won't. Take what's useful. Question the rest.

The search itself is the thing.

— Ray Bates, still asking