meaning...?

Ever say a word so many times it doesn't even sound like the word you meant to say? It just turns to mush in your mouth and although you know you mean to say it, you begin to doubt even yourself. Well, anyhow, I was having a conversation the other night over coffee with this guy, we'll call him the singing plantain...about meaning and he believes that life experiences only have meaning if we give it meaning. I begged to differ and the conversation that ensued after finding out we disagreed involved the over-use of the word 'meaning'...and well, it was pretty soon that the word lost it's meaning and didn't even sound real anymore.
I guess it was a new twist on the old adage- "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make any noise?" We both agreed that yes, it would. He then pointed out that it would mean different things to different people- the capitalist would see it as a gain, the environmentalist would grieve it, the naturalist would see it as a natural occurrence and on and on...my question is then, does it matter? The fact that an event happens should show that it's significant, right?
My personal opinion is that meaning isn't measured by the reaction or emotion it evokes from us, I think the meaning can be seen simply because we acknowledge the event. The recognition of something already bestows significance; the emotion it evokes, if any, is the icing.