PhD: A Life of Meaning?

Sometimes, I quote characters from TV to see if people call me on it. The other day, I did Linderman from Heroes:

Me: "You can only choose one path: a life of happiness or a life of meaning."
C: Why?
M: "To be truly happy, a man must live absolutely in the present. No thought of what's gone before and no thought of what lies ahead. But, a life of meaning, a man is condemned to wallow in the past and obsess about the future."
C: So, which path have you chosen?
M: I'm a grad student. What do you think?

I often shun group membership and labels. Instead, I usually prefer to be thought of as individual... although I definitely enjoy drawing on my PhD experience for humour. I guess it's one type of membership that has been meaningful to me and my definition of self. If there's one thing that I've learned: try not to take life too seriously... even if you're trying to make sure that it's meaningful.