Hey friends,

I’ve been working on a big writing project over the last 3 months. I’ve cleared out my calendar, blocked off my weekday mornings, and dedicated almost all my creative energy to this one thing. It has required a level of focus that has brought the best of my abilities to the forefront.

Well, I believe I’m nearing the finish line, and will be announcing it in the near future. I’m very happy with where it’s going, and am excited to share it with you when the time is right.

In the meantime, I'd like to share a reader-favorite from the archives.

Have you ever asked yourself these big, existential questions:

"What is the meaning of life?"

"What is the purpose of my existence?"

"What does it all mean?"

I spent some time exploring these questions, and it turns out the answers to them are actually quite... absurd.

Today's post is here to explain. When you're ready, let's dive right in:

​The Meaning of Life Is Absurd​

The Examined Writer

I’ve heard from many writers that want to create reflective essays, but don’t know where to start. How do they take the knowledge they’ve absorbed from their favorite thinkers, incorporate it with their personal experience, and translate the result into thoughtful essays that resonate with others?

There are many courses out there about building an audience, but almost none on what it takes to go deep with a given idea and frame it well. The paradox, of course, is that if you learn how to write deeply, then the resulting quality of your work will attract people anyway. I know this because More To That is an example of this in action.

I created The Examined Writer for people that are tired of hustling for readers through hacks and tactics. It’s for those that want to dive into their inner world, identify their best insights, and communicate them in a thoughtful manner. It’s for those that choose depth over dopamine, knowing that the path to mastery is only possible by first looking inward.

If this sounds like you, then I’d love to welcome you into The Examined Writer. You’ll learn how to write reflective essays for the modern reader, all while staying true to what inherently moves you.

A Book I’ve Been Enjoying

​Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel — The fact that this has only 160 reviews makes this was one of the most underrated books ever. This collection of essays by Nagel spans across many topics (from death to consciousness to politics and more), and each one acts as a gateway into a fascinating mind.

I wrote The Meaning of Life Is Absurd after reading Nagel’s essay on The Absurd and combining it with my own experiences. (It’s fitting because this very technique is something I teach in The Examined Writer.) And given that there are over 10 essays in this book that are rich with insight, you can view it as a treasure trove of ideas that you can draw upon as well.

A Thought I’ve Been Pondering

I’ve been posting on Twitter/X these days, sharing small ideas on a variety of topics. While they may seem disconnected, the reality is that they fall under a greater narrative which forms the basis of my current writing project. I’ve been using the platform as a testing ground of sorts, and it’s been rather illuminating.

Here’s a recent thought on the poison of status:

Status is one of humanity's great poisons, but it's so engrained in our evolutionary makeup that we continue to drink from its fountain whenever we can. It's an unsurprising fact that animals arrange themselves based on hierarchical power structures, but what's surprising is how readily human beings follow that same behavior without much thought.

Real progress is to look beyond the limitations of our evolutionary lineage, and to understand that the desire to be a "somebody" only exists because we can't face the reality of who we truly are.

A Brief Parting Question

One of the takeaways from today’s post is that you assign meaning to the world, as the world doesn’t assign it on your behalf. You don’t wait for meaning to arrive; you instead actively imbue something with it. That’s how purpose and fulfillment are born.

So I’d like to check in and see what may be giving you that sense of meaning in your life. Perhaps it’s vocation-related, relationship-related, or something else entirely. The question I’d like to ask is:

What’s one meaningful thing you’re working on in this week?

As always, hit reply to share any thoughts, to respond to the parting question, or to simply say hello. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share this email with anyone who might enjoy it. Have a great rest of your week!

-Lawrence Yeo

P.S. Thanks to T. Jorn for adding your support on Patreon! It means so much. If you’d like to support More To That and get access to book recommendations, exclusive AMAs, offline posts, and other reflections, join as a patron today.