The meaning of life

I don't know if it is for so much trouble with academic life, that I've started thinking again too much about the meaning of life. Sometimes it's difficult to see where we want to go. I've found the world full of noise, full of plays, full of mortality, and of course, beside the beauty and wonders it has, the beauty of love, having good friends, and the wonders you are filled with when seeing a piece of nature, artwork, and even a burnt city like Pompei! (still unable to forget what I saw there)
Sometimes, I remember the time sitting with a good friend for lunch, and once I talked about that, I complained about the job, about the science. She said, maybe a good job is to work in a shop! and I said, maybe, but, we cannot, since we think a lot, we need a place to express our talent, our curiosity. She agreed. Now, I feel I like my job. But I feel more than anytime else that it is good for earning a living, it is good to learn and understand how the brain works. But it is not the aim of my life, anymore. There should be some changes inside, I'd like to understand the world and myself not only by my brain, but also by my heart. I'm looking for a deeper understanding of the world. Again back to the question of 'what is life?'. I asked a friend this question. "Just live!" he replied. I asked "what do you mean by just live?", he didn't answer. I feel there should be something beside being an animal, eating, drinking, breathing, mating. What about Thinking? I feel most of the energy we put on 'thinking' is just again for living a bit more fashionable and sexier than animals. These days I really feel that I believe there is an immortality in this world.