Purpose, pastries, and profound questions

Jess Annison
Jun 4
6 min read

Updated: Jun 6

Last month I participated in the first ever Meaning and Purpose Summit in Lisbon. I shared my initial reflections at the time, written whilst sitting at the beautiful Mirodouro da Graça, looking down on the orangey-red rooftops of the city’s Moorish quarter.

A few weeks later, I’m writing a longer blog to better reflect on some of the important questions the event raised for me, of which there are many.

To make sure it’s not too overwhelming to read, I’ll also thrown in some much-more-trivial answers (to very different questions), and some meaningful moments, too.

So, what is the Meaning and Purpose Summit?

Over two days, 150-ish participants from 28 countries gathered to talk about individual and collective journeys toward meaning. Founded by Michael F. Steger, Helena Águeda Marujo and Kiko Kislansky, it was a blend of brilliant speakers, shared experiences and deep conversations. And at a time when so much in the world is being thrown up in the air, in fairly terrifying ways, it felt more timely than ever.

In no particular order, here are five of those big questions.

Five Big Questions

1. Is meaning in life a privilege or a right?

There was a strong undercurrent during the conference – both spoken and unspoken – that the pursuit of meaning is not just a nice-to-have, but something closer to a human right. Whether through relationships, creativity, contribution, or something else, we all should have access to meaning, right? It’s part of what makes life livable and worthwhile.

And yet, as Carol Ryff shared, there’s a growing set of studies that show that access to a sense of purpose and other aspects of eudaimonia (human flourishing) is increasingly concentrated among the most privileged. People with time, education, financial security, and social capital often have more freedom to ask life’s big questions, pursue meaningful work, and live in alignment with their values. Meanwhile, for those facing economic hardship, discrimination, or instability, the pursuit of purpose can feel abstract, even indulgent.

So can we meaningfully talk about purpose without also talking about inequality? Are we designing systems – in education, health, organisations – that allow everyone to access meaning, or just a lucky few?

2. What’s the connection between a lack of meaning and radicalisation, gangs and violent extremism?

The excellent Joel Vos talked about the move from personal meaning to socially nested meaning, and the implications for this when meaning and purpose are lacking. What do I mean by socially nested meaning? Well, like a Russian doll, my own personal sense of meaningfulness is nested within the meaning(s) of my family, which is nested within our community, and wider society. And so, when people feel marginalised or purposeless, and this sentiment is echoed and amplified around them, they become increasingly susceptible to extremist narratives that offer a sense of belonging and identity.

So how can we use meaning and purpose to stem the tide of increased youth hopelessness, radicalisation, gangs and political polarisation? Joel’s work in this space to promote meaning-oriented empathy, including his direct interactions with far-right rioters following the Southport attack last year, is truly inspiring.

3. Why is being cosmically insignificant so freeing?

Think the world revolves around you? Of course, logically we know that it doesn’t. But at the same time, we’re also the superstars of our own lives, and this egocentrism makes it easy to forget how insignificant we actually are. Both in terms of the physical space we take up in the world, solar system, galaxy – but also over the history of time. If the Earth’s entire history was compressed into a 24-hour day, we humans would only appear in the very last seconds of the day.

Scary? It could be. But Gaurav Marathe, in one of the conference’s five slots for speakers proposed and voted for by participants, helped us embrace how our smallness in the vast universe can be really liberating. This perspective, sometimes referred to as "cosmic insignificance therapy," invites us to relinquish the pressure of being extraordinary and instead find peace in what it means to just be human.

By acknowledging our fleeting existence in both space and time, we can focus more on the present moment, and what matters to us in the here and now, rather than being consumed by the pursuit of legacy or perfection, or other people’s dreams.

4. What can Epictetus teach us about resilience?

Stoic philosopher Epictetus said "don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you" (or words to that effect). As Frank Martela described in his session, he basically meant “bring it on”. It’ll be what it is. All we can control is how we respond to it.

Whilst that’s not an immediate kill-switch for worrying about stuff that probably won’t happen unfortunately, it’s a helpful reminder that – since the 1st century AD – human beings have had a tendency to stress about stuff unnecessarily.

As Frank went on to say, “energised contentment” can help us focus our energies on what we can influence, including seeking out multiple sources of meaning in life.

5. Why is nature so damn meaningful?

Nature emerged as a profound source of meaning during the summit. In one exercise we were encouraged to list experiences we found gave life meaning. Amongst a host of others, I noted down: “being in nature, being around animals, the sea, sunrises and sunsets, pretty cloud patterns, the colours in the sky, the colours/smells/tastes of fresh food”.

So what is the link between nature and meaning? Well, nature offers a sense of connection, tranquillity, and perspective. It reminds us of our place within a larger ecosystem, and perhaps a bit of cosmic insignificance too. Plus, there’s loads of research supporting the therapeutic benefits of nature, highlighting its role in reducing stress, enhancing well-being, and fostering a sense of awe. So perhaps it’s no wonder that engaging with the natural world can be a powerful avenue for finding personal and collective meaning?

Five Trivial Answers (to very different questions)

It wasn’t all big thoughts and deep questions, of course. Around the edges we did all the other good stuff associated with conferences, foreign travel and meeting new people. We ate, we laughed, we queued for conference coffee, we found things in common, we drank sangria, we danced (both with and without sangria), we explored the city, we (I) got on a bus in the wrong direction due to chatting too much and ended up deep in the suburbs.

In honour of those bits of the experience, here are five trivial answers. (At the bottom of the blog you can match them up to their respective question.)

Many
42 euros
19,311
Tuna tataki
Definitely

Five Meaningful Moments

Dotted amongst these big questions and trivial answers were many meaningful moments.

Again, in no particular order, here are five:

Walking as a group through the hills of the Parquet Forestal de Monsanto. Enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings, but also the growing sense of being part of something bigger than myself.
Having the opportunity to hear from and meet Carol Ryff, who has been something of a heroine for me ever since I began studying Positive Psychology. I remember the first morning of the first module of my Masters course, learning about her seminal well-being theory. To hear her talk in person, and for her to be just as inspiring in the flesh, was a massively meaningful moment.
Enjoying a bit of alone time wandering through Lisbon, a place I first visited in 2001 when I spent a summer solo-backpacking around Portugal and Spain. I love being in cities (particularly Mediterranean ones) that feel both atmospheric and livable, historic and modern, noisy and peaceful.
Several academic speakers emphasised the critical importance of 'translating' these ideas into practice. Taking the theories and the scientific studies and making them real for regular people, normal organisation. It’d be easy to attend this kind of thing and feel small, but I've been reminded I play an essential role in taking back and sharing the knowledge with others.
Having dinner with twenty fellow alumni from my MSc course, only one of whom I’d met previously. I’d always hoped that studying for a Masters would introduce me to interesting new people. It absolutely did at the time, and the fact it still does a few years after completing, is even better!

Bringing it all together

The Meaning and Purpose Summit offered more than just abstract science – it offered ideas, inspiration and connection. Across two days in Lisbon, there were plenty of big questions that will stay with me for some time. But also some treasured meaningful moments and just plain old fun. I’ve tried to make this blog a blend of them all, because ultimately meaning – and life itself – is a bit of a mix and we’re all learning to piece it together, one cosmically insignificant (but also personally significant!) step at a time.