Maybe we can find the meaning of life if we take a cue from what we feel or take a cue from we think we are suppose to learn or do in what we say. I do this all the time, I speak, I listen, it is in what I say and the why I say else why say them. Why do I say it, why say it at all. It is not what we say but only the me. It is both there and not there...
Is meaning a perception? Probably no, because there is meaning. We are always honest. IMO Love!
We ask the meaning and realize sometimes it is not what you or I or even they say (speak).