“What’s the point of life?”

A conversation with my fifteen-year-old son.

Photo of the author and her children in 2020 when they would still take pictures with her.

Yesterday, my fifteen-year-old son called me into the living room. “Mom, can you come here?” he shouted from the couch.

As moms tend to do, I quickly stopped whatever I was doing and sat on the couch with him.

“Can you give me some wisdom?” he asked.

“Um, can I get some context? What’s going on?” I replied, secretly thrilled to be thought of as one who could offer him wisdom. I contain my inner smile in an attempt to preserve the magic.

“Just stuff. You know, wisdom that could help a fifteen-year-old boy with school and other things he has going on.”

“Got it,” I replied. I usually do better when I have a specific situation that I can work with, but I decided to take what I could get.

So I begin…

“There are going to be good days and bad days. The bad days aren’t a reflection of you; they’re just part of this human experience. The trouble happens when we believe that we’re supposed to be happy and joyous all the time. That’s not reality — and never has been.

We’re here to experience the full spectrum of human emotions: happiness, enthusiasm, excitement, grief, fear, anger — all of them.

Of course, I want you to be happy, but I also want you to be resilient. There are many things in life that we can’t control, but when we can keep our inner world calm and be confident of our own strength, we can get through the inevitable ups and downs — and no doubt, there will be many.”

“But what’s the point of it all?” he asks.

“The point of life?” I clarify.

“Yeah,” he confirms.

Wow. I wasn’t expecting a conversation about the meaning of life on this Tuesday afternoon as I was about to embark on dinner, but I’m in. Let’s do this.

“The point is to discover who you are — what turns you on and what lights you up. Find out what you’re capable of and tap into your unlimited potential. Just like an acorn has an innate blueprint to grow into a majestic oak tree, you do, too. The purpose of life is to figure out who you really are, to experience love, joy, pleasure…