Have you noticed how two people can be present at the same event yet experience it differently? This is because experience is an interpretation of reality. And reality is a flux of events saturated with symbols seeking interpretation. The meaning of our world does not lay dormant waiting to be discovered, nor is meaning subjectively overlayed onto reality – an inferior addition. Rather, meaning originates in the form and value produced by every relational movement. It may vary in relevance, intensity, and complexity, yet every relationship has some degree of meaning. Let’s develop our understanding further by using music as a metaphor for meaning.¹

We can think of music as a language, not yet confined by words. It communicates values that move us, yet these values are not clearly defined. There is a mysterious appeal to these suggested meanings – a message is present, and its beauty resonates in us, yet it remains a riddle. The sound registers, and we are simultaneously aware of what we hear and unaware of its complete interpretation. It vibrates in both the conscious and the unconscious, and we find such seductions to explore the enigmatic – the hidden meanings – irresistible.

A couple of weeks before the birth of our first grandson, we (Mary-Anne, my wife, and I) visited our kids in Kansas City. They wanted to share something special with us and took us to a jazz bar and restaurant that evening. It was a cold winter night, and snow covered the sidewalk leading to the venue entrance. As we opened the door, the sounds of laughter, conversation, and people enjoying their meals spilled out. We found the last available table. Not too far from us stood an upright bass, a piano, and a set of drums.

Shortly after, the musicians made their way to their instruments. As they began to tinker with their instruments, the buzz quieted down, and a new sound emerged. The interplay of each instrument and musician created a fluid dynamic, a liquid perspective — when one instrument faded, another took the spotlight; as one musician gave way to another, the focus shifted. There was a seamless movement from complexity to simplicity and back. Layers of sound built upon one another, like streams joining an ever-growing river. Some memories transport us back to the experience, the feeling we had at that moment:

The significance of the music I experience in the present, can never be isolated to a single sound or an isolated moment. What moves me in the present sound is all that flowed before. Layers of resonance build on one another and give a kind of thickness to the present moment. The notes that came before somehow still resonate and impart to this present note its particular meaning. As the one experiencing this multi-layered movement, I give preference to some elements; I hear and attend in ways that make the experience unique to me. Harmony is not produced by musicians alone but by an internal process of unification. We can understand preference as desire. Harmony is, therefore, not a clinical objective reality but a subjective process in pursuit of satisfaction. 

Each sound inherits the beauty of what precedes it. And yet, the present sound is more than the sum of what came before. It is both summary and source, conclusion and inception, an ending that anticipates a new beginning. It contains both the richness of its history and the promise of what might yet be. The present is pregnant – a testament to its intimate past and a glimpse of an embryonic future that exceeds the past and present combined.

What I just described is but one experience of music from the perspective of a listener. The performers had similar but also differing experiences. The musicians felt the intentions of their fellow musicians and skillfully translated that into their interaction with their instruments. They also felt the anticipation of the audience, the ambience of the room, and transformed those feelings into unique rhythms and melodies. Music does not exist independent from the musicians, listeners, instruments, or environment but is a creative movement arising from the interplay of all these parties. Music cannot be reduced to its physical components but transcends them and creates a new reality. Its value is in the uniqueness and intensity of the experience it produces in each participant.

Although Mary-Anne and I were present at the same event, we each had a unique experience because experience is an act of interpretation. And interpretation is an act of harmonization, of giving preference, of attending, and giving perspective to all the elements involved. This process of interpretation gives us a measure of freedom, empowering us to shape our experiences and find our own unique meanings in the world around us. 

We will revisit the metaphor of music later, but let’s first connect this understanding of music and the concept of meaning. If, instead of limiting the influences we experience to music, we include every event and every impression, we will have a way of understanding the creation of meaning.

Like music, meaning does not exist apart from the interplay of all the parties involved. Like musical notes, my life events do not come to me with pre-defined meaning. Instead, they invite me to participate in the creative process of harmonizing them, preferring some values above others, and joining contrasts together in a way that produces beauty rather than conflict. This internal act of unifying all the elements of our world into a novel experience is the act of creating meaning. We’ll explore this process in greater detail in future modules.

Experience is an interpretation of reality. Not only the present influences an experience, but the history of interpretation, the structures that help us make sense of our world, exerts a large influence on each new interpretation. Thus, it becomes likely that every new experience will be conditioned to conform to the pattern of previous experiences. To avoid such dulling of experience requires an openness to novelty, a way of attending that expects more than a repetition of the familiar.

Let’s consider the theme from a theological perspective. Does God give meaning to your life? Does God determine the meaning of your life? Or does God offer you many possibilities of meaning? Again, the music metaphor is helpful. In a way, the jazz event was a gift, containing all the elements that made my experience possible. Yet, I was not a passive recipient. The uniqueness of my experience required my creative participation. Similarly, this world and every relationship you find yourself in is a Divine gift. Yet, the meaning of my life is not something I passively receive but a creative movement in which God honors my freedom and spontaneity, giving them room to produce something novel.

Thankfully God’s involvement in this creative process is not limited to the provision of possibilities, but includes an active drawing, or luring, toward those possibilities that produce beauty, goodness, and truth. In this context, divine beauty awakens desire and so gives direction to the creative process. 

We can conclude that God does not determine the meaning of our lives, but gives us possibilities of meaning, creative capacities, and the freedom to bring about novelty. In addition, God lures us toward the most beneficial and meaningful experiences. Like music, the beautiful symphony of our lives is a co-creative interplay of all these elements.

1. Many philosophers have used the metaphor of music to explore symbolism and meaning. One of the most interesting books on the theme is: Langer, Susanne K. Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite and Art. 1957.  ↩︎

• * The text above is an extract from a module in “The Creative Value of Your Perspective” course. It forms part of the “World of Wonder Program“.