Culture is what defines a society.

Definition is limitation and limitation is definition.

So it is the patterns, directions, goals, collective models by which we can find some common ground. Which is obviously useful, but it can become so all-encompassing, that we look for escape, without fully understanding what we want, or what we think qualifies as escape.

For one thing, it is a simple and basic dichotomy, between the desires driving us and the decisions guiding our individual and collective routes. Head and heart. Order and transcendence. We can't have one without the other. It's like galaxies are energy radiating out, as structure coalesces in.

So then the trick becomes to understand this dynamic. For one thing, processes generate the patterns, even if our minds focus on the clarity of the patterns. So there is endless feedback between the sides. Consequently when we set ourselves goals, accept they will generate feedback. Actions begat reactions. If we rush blindly after these goals, it creates the sense of progress, but also blowback that eventually overwhelms any fleeting success. So while goals are necessary to how we function, they should also be taken lightly.

That doesn't mean dropping them when problems arise, but to take those problems into account as well. Sometimes they can give us new insight into what we seek. Truly important goals will be those larger than our lives, so simply working toward them, rather than attaining them, is the reality we have to accept. Then we can both enjoy our lives, as well giving them meaning.

It's not what we take that gives life meaning, but what we give. Which should be obvious, but not something our culture gives more than lip service.

As it is, our culture is more tree farm, than forest, so just learn to grow beyond your role. Push the roots under the walls and sidewalks.

Life is like a sentence. The end is just punctuation. What matters is how well you tie the rest of the story together.