If you're also going through an existential crisis

Hi Indie Hackers!

Last weekend I've released a project that's very dear to my heart and hope will help out others going through life existential phases. Here's a bit of a back story:

Nobody talks about the big questions 👀
My teenage crisis happened when I was 15. And against all my expectations, it didn’t look at all like the ones in the movies. I wasn’t angry at my parents, I didn’t leave my house in secret to go and kiss bad boys, I didn’t get a tattoo, and I didn’t join the young communist party like the other cool kids.

Instead, I had a really big existential crisis. I was becoming an adult and suddenly it felt like nothing made sense anymore. I had all those big questions popping into my head, with no answers available. Why are we on Earth? How should I deal with the fact that there are billions of other people living their life at the same time as me, thinking they’re as important as me? Do things happen for a reason? Or not at all? Do I have a purpose, and is it my job to discover it?

Living in a very down-to-earth, atheist family of engineers, those weren’t questions that we discussed at dinner. They were also too intense to be brought up at parties with my friends. And I noticed that in people’s minds, those topics often fell into the dangerous boxes of “spirituality”, or “religion”, which were an absolutely forbidden land.

Why this is getting more relevant 🌍
I’m not a stand-alone case. As the world is turning its back on religion, people are lacking a structure, a frame, an answer to the very messy question of ‘How to live your life’. And the truth is, it’s such a messy, vast, scary question that I think we crave for a simple set of rules. It’s why people adore and celebrate individuals who rise up from the crowd with a clear answer to those questions. In the business world, they’re leaders like Naval Ravikant (voted best podcast of 2018), Ray Dalio (his book “Principles” is a New York Times Bestseller), or Derek Sivers (his “Do this” project exploded overnight). And it’s why “gurus” are able to gather entire communities of followers.

The thing is, unless you decide to study Philosophy or you’re lucky enough to have a group of friends or relatives who enjoy deep conversations, you might very well go through your whole life without ever discussing those topics. Some people don’t really need to think about them. But others, like me, find themselves always coming back to them, and it can be stressful to feel like you might never get the answer right.

What we built ⚒️
So to democratize those existential questions, we started documenting what several people / schools of philosophy say about them. And we’re gathering the results here: https://www.thelifeproject.co/. I would love to get your input on it and your contributions! 😊

I’ve found it very comforting and calming to compare different views, and to see how some arrive at the same conclusions. I would love for this project to grow and include more point of views. So please go ahead, have a look and feel free to contribute.

I think those big questions deserve more time and attention. I hope they start being discussed at school, on social media and at dinner tables. They’re nothing to be ashamed of — they’re at the core of the human experience, wherever and whoever you are. Yes, we’ll never really know what’s right or wrong, but it’s an incredible exercise to 1) realize you’re not the only one not knowing, and 2) clarify and own the principles that work for you. 🌻