View profile

Find Your Meaning Operating System

Find Your Meaning Operating System
Mental health information that is meaningful and accessible.
For years now, that’s the angle I’ve taken when creating mental health content.
Accessible seems obvious enough.
Creating content that is easy to digest and is readily available for people where and when they need it.
But what about meaning?
What’s meaningful to me won’t necessarily be meaningful to you.
For that, we need a definition and a Meaning Operating System.

Mental Health and Meaning
Before I give you the operating system to help you make sense of this meaning idea, let’s address why creating meaning is so important for mental health in the first place.
After all, meaning is a squishy topic.
Is it in what you do, or is it in who you are?
Do your relationships make up meaning, or is it something bigger than that?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s in an overarching, all-consuming system of thought that guides your words and deeds?
It’s can be any and all of that.
Before you throw up your hands and click away to happier pastures, consider something that I think we can both agree on.
Meaning is created by the person having the experience.
Your meaning is an internal thing–it stems from your experiences, and it’s heightened by your values and by the concepts you hold dear.
A life without meaning is a life heading down an underground tunnel.
Even if you navigate your way safely through the bowels of the underground network, you’re still underground.
You’re still crawling through a systems of tubes that don’t seem to go anywhere.
There are no landmarks or lights to guide your path.
Meaning is in the Making
Now that we’ve considered the importance of meaning for mental health, let’s get back to this Meaning Operating System.
Your computer has one.
And you may not have realized this, but you have one too.
When you decide whether an opportunity is worthy of your time, you’re using your operating system to help you decide.
When you’re considering if mental health content is going to help you or hurt you, you’re using your operating system to make that decision.
An operating system is not a concrete thing as much as it is a collection of experiences, feelings, and thoughts that come together to make you who you are. It’s the embodiment of everything that makes you, you.
Finally, let’s turn to identifying your own operating system.
A Simple Exercise to Determine Your Meaning Operating System:
  1. Consider the last tough decision you had to make. Or, consider the last time you needed to find information to make a tough decision.
  2. Consider the values and feelings that emerged as you were making that decision.
  3. Think about why those values and/or feelings were important to you.
  4. Now, analyze the nature of those values and feelings. What were the predominant ones? Why did they rise to the top?
  5. Finally, consider how you made the decision. The ultimate decision you made is actually not that important–it’s how you made the decision that matters most.
You see, a Meaning Operating System is not a thing as much as it is a process.
The way in which you do things often says more about you than what you actually do.
And this all ties back to your mental health.
If you struggled to answer these questions, maybe your operating system isn’t clearly defined yet.
If you feel scattered and all over the place as you make decisions and go about life, maybe you haven’t decided on a Meaning Operating System yet.
That’s OK.
No one really has it all figured out.
What truly matters is that you travel the path of meaning-making in a way that feels right for you.
You weren’t born knowing how to walk and move around.
But then, one day, it all came together into a complex system of parts and feelings that is undeniably and authentically you.
Kind of a vague topic to start a week, huh? I hope you started to see yourself in these words. It might take time to fully develop your Meaning Operating System. Embrace the process, though, and you’ll be A-OK.

Have a great Monday, alright?
Jordan

P.S. We just made it to 800 subscribers of The Mental Health Update! Thank you for your support. Here’s to 800 more. Forward this newsletter to a friend, and let’s keep it going!
Did you enjoy this issue?
Become a member for $10 per month
Don’t miss out on the other issues by Jordan Brown - Mental Health Newsletter Writer, Poet, Social Worker, and Advocate
Jordan Brown - Mental Health Newsletter Writer, Poet, Social Worker, and Advocate

The Mental Health Update provides you with authentic mental health articles that make mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and OCD meaningful AND accessible.

This is different from typical mental health newsletters and articles.

It's not just an Anxiety Email Newsletter or a Depression Email Newsletter - It's two weekly articles packed with timeless mental health wisdom and inspiration to start your day in a thoughtful, uplifting way.

I was tired of other newsletters blasting out generic lists of links and depression articles.

And I was especially tired of them not focusing on the everyday reality of mental health issues.

So I decided to come up with something I wanted to read.

This health newsletter is like a caring friend that just wants you to feel better.

Mental health awareness articles don't need to be all doom and gloom and filled with jargon.

With The Mental Health Update, you'll get practical mental health information, tips, and new ways to view the world. Especially now, with people reeling from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, we need trusted voices telling it like it is.

We discuss topics like anxiety, depression, OCD, the mental health to mental illness spectrum, social and communication skills, and much, much more.

This is what a few subscribers had to say about The Mental Health Update:

"If you haven't yet subscribed to Jordan's mental health newsletter, you absolutely should. It's chock full of good stuff to read and will help make your day better. Not unlike a daily vitamin for your mental health and soul..." - JR

"Encouragement from someone who has “been there” when it comes to mental health struggles. Comes in the form of stories and simple, actionable tips for reframing and working with - and through - your issues. One of the few newsletters that has survived my ruthless inbox decluttering sprees. Highly recommended!" - Kelila

"Jordan's mental health update is a welcomed email in my inbox. It often provides me with a chance to break from the mundane tasks of working in an office and take a moment for myself to hear his thoughtful and well put together thoughts on many aspects of mental health. As someone who works in the psychology field it's often a nice reminder and way of grounding myself to all the great work that's going on and the journey we all must take in supporting mental health. Thank you Jordan!" - Rob

I take my no-spam policy very seriously. I consider it a mental health obligation to not abuse your trust.

Newsletter articles sent on Monday and Wednesday.

Members receive detailed information from those articles on Tuesday and Thursday AND an exclusive Friday email as well.

You can manage your subscription here
If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.
Powered by Revue
Missoula, MT