What does living a meaningful life mean to you?

Are you living out the actions to honor your definition of a meaningful life? This can really be a struggle, because of, well, LIFE and its surprises + demands. Right?!

Responsibilities. Bills. Should do’s.

You might be wondering, what does living “a meaningful life” have to do with documenting life or marketing or any other topic we cover here. Here’s why: both the Intentional Documentary approach + The Preservation Project, have a direct relationship with efforts to live a meaningful life – we use “documenting” (whether in pictures, writing, and beyond) to do so. However, “documenting” is just one tool we can use to stay in-check and honor our definition and desire for a meaningful life.

I’ve brought on writer, Alexandra Franzen, because, she’s an A-Lister of someone living out a meaningful life who makes it look effortless. She shares how she even has struggles too!

This episode was sparked, because with introducing Alexandra’s new book, (my Amazon link) So This is the End: a love story, she’s been posing the question:

“If you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your time?”

Seriously – have you thought about that?

We talk about that + much more, including the back story to Alexandra’s Iconic Photo share:

I’m so excited for you to join the conversation! Enjoy the story!

My favorite quote in this from Alexandra:

“Nowadays, more and more, it’s all one big art project.”

Man, I needed to hear that. We can always decide to change our lives, but even when we’re feeling stuck, we can tweak our lens and our attitude. That was such a beautiful way to put it.

Homework questions for you:

1. What does a meaningful life mean to you and why is it important?
2. What’s holding you back from making actions to achieve those things?
3. How can you look at those things through the lens of it being an art project?
4. How can you use “documenting” to nourish what’s meaningful in your life?

Comment below. I’d love to hear your responses!

More goodness:

So This Is the End: A Love Story is a novel set in a futuristic world — a world where it’s possible to die, be brought back to life, and have one extra day to do whatever you want.

Just one more day. That’s it.

Author Alexandra Franzen takes readers on a romantic, emotional, page-turning journey. This invites you to contemplate questions like,

“If you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your time?” and “What if you met your soulmate, but you could only spend one day together?”

Friend, I read this book in under 24 hours — I couldn’t put it down! I was emotionally invested in the main character, Nora’s, story from Page 1. It’s stories like this that teach us how important it is to stay awake and pay attention to how we’re documenting + the final destination of it all.

You’ll love this read  

Links mentioned:

• Our Guest: Alexandra Franzen Website | Articles | Writing Retreats | Alexandra’s Famous Newsletter | Order Alexandra’s new book: So This Is the End: A Love Story
• Alexandra’s writing has been published in Time, Forbes, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, and Lifehacker
• Mentioned: Melissa Cassera and her program, Obsessed
• Alex Beadon & her On Purpose podcast episode mentioned
• More on HOW you’re documenting + the final destination of it all: IDP 004, IDP 029, IDP 031
• (For Photographers) Peek at the Awesome Things Happening in Documentary Family Photography this month
• (For Story-Keepers) Create your To-Remember List here (and document what really counts)