There is a tendency for modern psychology to portray meaninglessness as a problem that needs to be fixed rather than seeing it as a possible awakening, a portal to the truth that there is much more to life than is being lived by the majority of humanity.
Meaninglessness can be a portal into a “search for meaning” which can herald a shift in consciousness that could deliver far greater meaning and fulfilment in life than previously imagined. Many great philosophers and world teachers have found their paths through an awakening triggered by meaninglessness and questioning the purpose of life as most of us are experiencing it.
P.D. Ouspensky (1978 – 1947) was a Russian philosopher who explored the veil of separation between our merely human lives and something far greater that was accessible to humanity. He questioned why this knowledge had been suppressed and supported the innate knowing that the customary forms of living were a lie.
"It is only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have meaning." - P.D. Ouspensky
Meaninglessness is a signal or recognition that we are reaching the bottom of a slope which becomes the opportunity for true growth and to let go of the meaningless deception of life as we have known it.
Worldwide Epidemic
There is currently a global epidemic of exhaustion, illness (mental and physical) and disease because humanity is swimming against the stream of nature. Despite increased funding for research, medical specialists and pharmaceutical remedies there are burgeoning rates of cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, dementia, ADHD, depression, anxiety and addiction. We are the only species that eats to kill itself, that seeks constant stimulation, that harms itself with toxic substances and lack of sleep.
Our bodies are incredibly complex, intricate and delicate and yet we bludgeon them with excess food, alcohol, tough sports and constant stimulating reactions. We combat the exhaustion with coffee, sugar and alcohol and distract from our unhappiness with television, shopping, media and the plethora of other distractions sold to us as entertainment. Then when the correction of illness or a symptom occurs, we seek a pill or a practice that will allow us to continue with the disregard – because we are deluded that we like our lifestyle.
The body is a portal into the innate wisdom and intelligence that surrounds us and we can tap into this field and receive that the way we are living “is not it”, is meaningless and harmful. But when we look around us or try to discuss this with anyone, we are seen as strange and needing therapeutic support. People avoid talking about what really matters and judge you as intense if you try. It’s how we are shut down to desist!!
Beware of Faulty Diagnosis
It is important that we explore the truth of our feelings of emptiness or meaninglessness and decide for ourselves whether we are experiencing a type of existential depression or whether we are in fact entering a true healing crisis, questioning whether there is more to life than is currently being lived.
We can be fobbed off by “informed” mental health explanations that we are feeling this emptiness because we have unmet expectations of ourselves and/or others. Informed by whom or what and which invested interests? We may have absorbed messages about what our life should look like. Subliminal messages can come from family, society, culture and religion. The media, through TV, films and social media can contribute to feelings that we should be having a more fulfilling experience as what is often portrayed is quite unrealistic but it can be successful in driving us to try and achieve what is being portrayed.
We may be told that we have expected life to be easier to cope with, happier, more fulfilling, more successful, more comfortable or healthier. This can occur after we have achieved a goal such as a promotion, a relationship or a family. Despite these relative achievements, we can still be still left with a feeling of “is this it?” or “Do I matter?”
What does this feel like in the Body?
Meaningless can feel like a given-upness. That there is no point in making any effort in life because it is all pointless. You might feel insignificant and you cannot do anything to make any difference to the problems of the world or even your own life – so why bother?
It can be accompanied by feelings of lethargy and withdrawal from life into isolation and sometimes addiction. We might use a substance or behaviour to relieve the feelings of despair and then find we are using this to cope and we can then become addicted. This could be substances like alcohol, food or drugs or behaviour like gaming, gambling or pornography.
What can be useful?
Acceptance of the fact that you are feeling this way is essential. Pushing the feelings away or medicating them may provide temporary relief but can be harmful long term.
Look inward - these feelings of meaninglessness have meaning! They are asking that you begin to question how you are living and whether your lifestyle makes you feel vital and fully alive. It may not be that you have a problem but that you, and all of us, are living in a way that dulls and suppresses all that we can access, beyond this human physical existence.
These feelings are asking that you review your life and take stock of how you are living.
To begin with embark on the journey of building an energetic connection with your body and felt sense of yourself. Be present in your body and be present to your surroundings. Connect to your feelings of how you are impacted by the choices you are making.
Begin a program of dedicated self care. Make loving choices that hold your body and health in high regard. This involves earing home-cooked healthy food, getting regular gentle exercise, getting enough good quality sleep and observing your reactions to the world around you and letting go of the drama of reaction and stimulation.
Observe the reactions of those around you that are still caught in the lie of daily life being fun, fine and fabulous and feel how they do not want to see the truth that you have been awakened to.
As each of us begins to challenge the lie of life as we know it, there will be a paradigm shift away from self-harm towards self care and self love which lead to self empowerment. Of course there are vested interests that do no want humanity to be self-empowered. They want us malleable, conforming to the lie and easily controlled.
Develop a sense of energetic integrity, where you will do no harm to yourself or others, where you will not purchase or support products that lack integrity. When there are many points of light across the globe that are living this way, we will invoke the 100th monkey theory and a paradigm shift will occur. This is meaningful.