Deep conversations with your friends, family, and loved ones can be intense, but amazingly fulfilling. It’s at these moments that you become familiar with yourself and the people you’re talking to better.

Asking deep questions gives us a different perception of life. They allow us to form connections that we can’t simply get through with small talk.

Here are some deep questions to ask to spark meaningful conversations.

1.  Is It Worse to Fail or Never Try at All?

Sean-Paul Thomas, the author of The Universe Doesn’t Do Second Chances, once said, “Better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.” However, there are questionable things you should never attempt. Eating Tide pods, for one. Eating your pet’s food. Cheating on your partner. There are endless things that should just never be attempted for a lot of reasons.

In the previously mentioned situations, it’s smarter to never have attempted in the first place. If something doesn’t light your senses on fire, why even bother?

The Answer

Roald Dahl, the author of Matilda, once said, “If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it, and above all become passionate about it. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”

What I can say is this: pick your failures carefully. Prioritize the things you’re willing to stroll through fire for. It could be family, an organization, a cause, or every one of the three. That way, if you fail, which you’re bound to sooner or later, your failure will have meaning. 

Ultimately, the individual that will have the answer to address this question is, obviously, yourself and the person you’re asking. You know the odds you’ll regret not taking. You know whether you’re profoundly intrigued or not. You realize when you’re misleading yourself.

2.  What Is the Difference Between Living and Existing?

In the film “The Family That Preys” Alice Evans raises the question, “Are you living or just existing?”

Do you experience a day and feel like everything has been chosen? Like there can be no new decisions, and that every day is just the same old thing? If it happens in moderation, then that’s alright. But if it constantly feels like this, day in and day out, then it becomes an issue.

Basically, existing is a simple enough trench to fall into. However, there are the individuals who get amped up for a new day, who have things to anticipate, and who invest more energy getting a charge out of the present as opposed to stressing over what’s to come.

The Answer

In Kimanzi Constable’s book, “Are You Living or Existing?” he says to live doesn’t mean you’re alive.

Existing is a long survival. Living is choosing to be happy, it’s deciding to live. Existing is you physically being here, and forcing yourself to do what you need to do, to get past the day.

Living is something beyond working a job and accepting a check, it’s cherishing it and following your passion. It’s not letting your fear control you into doing something new, it isn’t remaining in a harmful relationship because you’re frightened of what happens when you let that individual go.

It’s moving out of your comfort zone instead of following a similar exhausting schedule each day, despite the fact that you scorn it. It’s taking a risk to improve your life.

3.  Is Love Just a Feeling?

Depending on the person you’re asking, they might agree that yes, love is, indeed, just a feeling. After all, it’s all driven by a unique blend of brain chemicals; adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin. All of these are released during exciting, novel experiences.

For other people, they believe that love is something more powerful and intangible than simple science and chemicals. Love is commitment. Love is patient. Love is putting your hearts on the line for each other.

In my opinion, love is a combination of both. It’s a feeling that’s more than just a feeling. Clinical psychologist Deborah Anapol believes that “love is bigger than you are. You can invite love, but you cannot dictate how, when, and where love expresses itself.” It’s a force of nature. It’s what makes us human.

The Answer

In Lindsey Stirling’s hit album Brave Enough, she asked, “Is love just a feeling, some kind of emotion when you need the healing?”

Perhaps love is, indeed, just a feeling, Perhaps it’s more than emotion could ever explain. Either way, both answers are correct. I’d say love is beyond devotion. In the end, it will always depend upon the individual who’s experiencing it.

4.  Do You Really Have to Forgive to Move On?

Many say that to forgive, you must forget. For years, that quote has left a bad taste in my mouth. If the person who hurt you is inexcusable or despicable, is forgiveness, then, necessary? If you do choose to forgive, what does the process actually entail?

Some say that we should forgive others not based on our feelings, but because it’s the right thing to do. Others say that forgiveness is about your healing, not others. After all, forgiveness is, medically speaking, good for your health.

So, then, what is the truth? Both? Neither? The question is a simple one, but the answer is far more complicated than face value.

The Answer

Whether you’re obligated to forgive or not is a deep question to ponder among loved ones.

According to psychotherapist Andrea Brandt, forgiveness entails confronting what caused you pain, and comprehending why the other individual did what they did. Whether you choose to forgive is a choice only you, and the person you’re talking to, can make.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your thoughts, ideas, and philosophies with another person not only allows you to get to know them better, but it’ll also give you a different perspective in life. So, always try to engage in deep, meaningful conversations, even if it’s to pass time!