What are the best books about them?
Are you experiencing one right now?
How did you deal with it?
>Tfw trying to figure out who I am, what I am and what to get attached to
>Paid $199 for a DNA test
>Got the results I wanted (not a mongrel)
>Still don't feel comfortable with myself; nor do I have any real idea about what 'I' am
>The more philosophy I read to try and alleviate this feeling, the more detached I become; to the point where I feel like a tumbleweed
>Wondering if that's how I should feel, or if I should resist the feeling
>>8070183
Define "Existential Crisis"
>>8070189
An existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether this life has any meaning, purpose, or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.
>>8070183
I think Nietzsche made the point in 'Human, All Too Human' that a world in which "God is dead" will essentially lose its biggest metaphysical foundation thus far.
Welcome to that world.
I've had several "crises" , first one at the age of four. Just have to deal with it. Embrace it or suffer. Or both.
>>8070198
>I've had several "crises" , first one at the age of four.
Could you not decide between strawberry and vanilla flavoured yoghurt, or what?
>>8070201
No I was raped by my uncle
>>8070208
Same difference.
>>8070192
Sounds fucking melodramatic.
>>8070192
ok so my whole life has been a crisis, nice.
>>8070212
It is. But you only realize that after your first one. When (if) you have a second one you recognize it and can say "Oh, that again."
>>8070183
>Wondering if that's how I should feel, or if I should resist the feeling
Don't resist it.
What you're experiencing now is essentially Human omnipresence; within and without.
This is a very valuable frame of mind to have for any /lit/izen.
>>8070247
It's like chickenpox; the early you have it, the better. That way you can think your way out of it very easily.
I had my first one at 23 and it fucked me up. I even went travelling like in those shitty Hollywood Indie movies of self-discovery.
Accept that there is no inherent meaning in anything so the only way to direct yourself is to have things which stand on their own i.e. which you can't destroy with 'why'. Until you find something which is the answer to 'why' on it's own you get an infinite regress of why.
Once you find something which stands for itself, usually the most basic being that: I want to experience subjectively better states of being than I do now, then that is something you can work towards in your own way.
And when you get bogged down in 'why' well you have an answer. If you take it to the extreme, if there were a scenario where you take some positive action (Whatever that means to you) or you get set on fire, you would obviously take the action. Here, the stakes aren't as high, but sometimes they can be. i.e. take some positive action or end up a lonely shitposting autist until the day you die. Yeh, that's a vision of life bad enough that it can stand on its own to anyone who's not tricking themself with word games that it it is worth taking a meaningful step away from
>>8070269
I was about twenty six. It started with a panic attack and lasted about two years. I moved a few times. Sounds stupid, but I feel I learned a lot about myself and my role in life.
>>8070269
How did it go? I'm in a bit of a rut like that now. It's not so much the lack of inherent meaning, because I've dealt with that, it's more that I can't find anything in life that seems at all worth it. I feel like an edgy teen when I say it, but I look at any possible life or lifestyle I see around me and every single one looks horribly depressing. I'm 23, just finished my masters degree and have no idea what I could do for the rest of my life.
>>8070492
>my role in life.
Sounds spooky to me. Are you an ant? A bee?
>>8070500
stirner+spooks isnt a magic "i win all the arguments" line: it actually means something and when you use it like that you look stupid as fuck
>>8070508
I'm actually using it correctly.
The whole idea of a 'role' in life suggests a purpose, which is pretty fucking spooky.
>>8070515
But you aren't saying anything, memer
Spooks aren't a bad thing- if plato pursued purposes that ISN'T A BAD THING because he actually examined those purposes and his context and was a self-actualized person.
here's a thought: maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass you wouldn't talk so much shit
>>8070493
It was alright. I made my way across most of Europe; mainly on foot, or else cycling and hitch-hiking.
Didn't find what I was looking for after a year of that, so looked farther afield. Went to Japan for a couple of months, and found an essentially perfect society; or one that at last best matched my own political/philosophical beliefs. Given that I'm not a Nip, however, it was not the answer; if I was to make like some weeaboo and stay there, I'd have been like Nick Caraway during that bit in the Great Gatsby where he is "without and within." That is, I wouldn't belong; and I accepted that, which is why I went back home.
I'm still struggling to come to terms with the fact that what I'm looking for is probably not anywhere to be found in the 'outside world', or rather, in any kind of place. To find contentment, I will probably have to bite the bullet and look within myself at some stage.
The whole thing is annoying, because in my daily life I am surrounded by people who are too stupid to examine themselves meaningfully enough to enter an existential crisis to begin with; and in that sense, they are probably fortunate. Ignorance is bliss, but it is also a state to which you cannot return.
My study of philosophy led me down a rabbit hole that's robbed me of my happiness and peace of mind; and nowadays I'm either trying to get it back, or considering if that is even possible. If not, then I wonder what.
>>8070555
>Appeal to Authority/Plato
Do I even need to say it?
>>8070584
ha ha wow you're so funny how do you come up with these fantastic original jokes
>>8070591
:^)
>>8070604
just do me a favor: in the future try not to make everyone stupider when you talk
>>8070570
You're right, you DO sound like one of those pretentious fucks from Hollywood indie movies.
You'll be right at home here.
Good thing I'm smart enough to not care about pointless garbage like that
>>8070616
Hey, that's not nice.
>>8070570
Be honest did your mom and dad pay for your trip.
Your second to last sentence is pretty accurate though- there was a point where I realized it's not that people conceal their thoughts on these types of things they're just literally not introspective enough to even approach anything deeper than "The universe is like.. huge man".
Why isn't just accepting that there are preferable states of being good enough an answer to the bulk of questions regarding meaning?
>>8070650
Are there?
>>8070660
yes
>>8070642
>Be honest did your mom and dad pay for your trip.
Nah, I worked my way around Europe. Lots of casual work to be found if you're an intelligent first-worlder. I managed a bar in France, owned by a friend of mine; among other things.
Came back home after Europe, worked and saved for quite a few months before going to Nippon.
>I realized it's not that people conceal their thoughts on these types of things they're just literally not introspective enough to even approach anything deeper than "The universe is like.. huge man"
It's not a good feel. Were it not for my surprising encounters with perfectly pleasant people, I'd be a misanthrope by now. Then again, I fight with misanthropy every day.
>>8070665
I disagree.
>>8070673
To you, it is not preferable to be doing whatever you're doing now than to be tortured and set on fire?
I guess pretending to have an "existential crisis" is one way to pretend to be adult.
>>8070666
I hate the type of person you are.
>>8070677
What's a 'legit' existential crisis in your books, friendo?
>>8070192
>muh meaning
who cares? just do whatever the fuck you want. One day it'll all be over anyway
>>8070269
had my first one when I was like 8 years old. I went to a Catholic school. One day they took a group of 5-6 kids and took them to small room in the library. Some woman was there to talk to us about God and what he means to us. Somehow the conversation shifted towards grade-school existentialism ("What if there are small people in our brain controlling our bodies"). Eventually a phrase stuck in my mind: "It's weird that I'm real". It triggered some intense depersonalization. For a few months that phrase would stick in my mind and give me a sinking feeling in my stomach. I would just think about what it means to be a human, who "I" am, what my "reality" is (school and playing in my backyard), and what the purpose of that "reality" was (why do I go to school and play in my backyard everyday?). I would repeat "it's weird that I'm real" so often that I would look at myself in a mirror and be kind of weirded out.
>>8070680
>>8070676
Yeah but you can't just make your own meaning of life out of juxtapositions to other events/people. You can sit down and try and play video games but realize you're not actually *doing* anything (and doing things is what brings people happiness and meaning). In the same way you can be with a loved one or a romantic partner and thats nice and all but you can still be burdened by knowing that ultimately you've got this limited existence and even if you go down in history as some hero you still don't get anything out of it.
In the same way, it's not practical to propose someone could have their spouse leave them, lose their job, their hobbies, but say "Well at least I'm not starving in Africa" and wake up smiling and laughing every day.
It's a dumb debate to have either way though. Because it basically boils down to not finding meaning in anything which is mostly in and of itself.
>>8070693
This isn't terribly unique or anything but sounds like something out of an indie movie. I'd watch it.
>>8070614
What do you do when that mindset overtakes you then?
>>8070570
>I'm still struggling to come to terms with the fact that what I'm looking for is probably not anywhere to be found in the 'outside world', or rather, in any kind of place
This is true, yet also untrue. The outside world (nature for me, and yes I know that is corny as shit) can be welcoming and caring, but also isn't at the same time. In the end it is all about your inner-state and mind. If you can work and change to a point where you feel content with yourself you WILL be able to find a place (or places) you are looking for in the world.
Starts with yourself though
>>8070700
A lot of strange assumptions about what my position is here.
I didn't mention anything about comparing your situation to other people's lives. It is all rather subjective. You'll probably find some very odd one-off person who likes to be set on fire so a blanket statement of 'what's preferable for all' is pointless.
There are likely rather poor people in Africa who are enjoying life more than millionaires in mansions. That's not the norm obviously but it surely exists.
So, once you recognise this you take a look at your own subjective experience and you make a judgement on what states of being you've enjoyed and which you haven't and what actions are likely to lead to what you want and which aren't. Essentially making a project of being.
The word enjoy can seem limited to hedonism but that's just limitation of adequate words in this context.
One might 'enjoy' taking MDMA and dancing like a lunatic more than working for a charity or something and know they'd prefer to do the latter.
And even if you want to be philosophical about it all you can make your project to have a deeper understanding and relation to your inevitable death.
The idea that all is meaningless is the idea that on personal terms, to have things go to hell or to heaven is one of indifference to you. That's plainly not the case.
The meaning question is more of a standing back from life and being able to see it as meaningless in the end. And you could see it as meaningless if you were to stand back and realise that you were going to die by being burned alive in a fire. That doesn't change the fact that when that event comes you are intimately invested in that experience, you don't say 'well, it doesn't matter, burning is nothing'. The same applies for every other aspect of life.
>>8070694
He's correct though. Fucker travels around the world "finding himself" and makes it sound like the most boring thing in the world
>>8070752
He didn't really say what he was doing during that time, in fairness.
>>8070746
what the fuck are you even talking about
>>8070861
what don't you understand, seems pretty clear to me?
>>8070732
It's not something that 'overtakes you'. You just deal with it. Live with it. People say "I just decided I'm going to take life by the handles and make the best of it!". That's not progress. It's just regressing back to everyone who doesn't think about it. It's not a wrong answer, debatably it's the best thing you could do, but to me it isn't right.
life actually centers around me and youre all just background characters to my reality btw
>>8070872
>You just deal with it.
That's exactly what I said.
>>8070872
I think the bard's 'for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so'
is pretty apt.
Obsessing about existential matters is not progress in my opinion either. How much time do you think one should devote to trying to come up with answers to existential questions? All day, every day?
People can get on with it by living the answers to existential questions, which to me is far closer to making progress in relation to existential issues than moping that you can't find the perfect answer. Because we all know there isn't a perfect answer.
>>8070886
When someone replies to 3+ posts don't take the message so personally to yourself.
>>8070889
Yeah there really aren't any good answers. You can accept it and spend your time just mulling and moping about it, or you can reject it and enjoy yourself but you're still just avoiding 'facing' the problem. So it's a trade off.
>>8070903
I don't agree. There are no concrete answers. There are certainly answers which can be meaningful to people subjectively.
Take, for example, the fact that you're going to die. If someone wants to live authentically in relation to this existential truth they can decide to remind themselves that they are going to die and what that means to them for an allotted time every day and then decide what it means to live in relation to that fact throughout the day. If everyone were to take this seriously, they'd get a number of very different ideas on how to go about this.
Mulling and moping, I do not think is facing it because it is refusing to do anything about it. It's like coming to the conclusion that 2+2=4 but you wish it were 5 so you get sad about it and obsess over how it isn't what you want to hear. That, to me is not facing up to it.
The existential issue of death is not one you solve in the sense of 'how do i stop the inevitability that i will die'. It's one that you live 'How do I live in deep relation and awareness that i will die'? I doubt anyone would deem moping to be a good answer to that. It's a cop out.
This is why it doesn't necessarily have to be a trade-off
>>8070930
Well of course 'Mulling and moping' isn't the literal course of action. We know many philosophers and writers and thinkers have spent most of their days thinking about unanswerable questions. But you would hardly say their time is wasted would you? Sure you're never going to get an epiphany of the meaning of life, but it's still something. Having some realization that only gets resolved by reverting backwards to before the revelation to me isn't a path I want to go.
And sure some people say "No no im truly changed for the better from it" and I believe them but I still feel that ultimately people 'solve' existentialism by plugging their ears and shutting their eyes to it. It's like having a difficult or even unsolvable math problem and solving it by saying "Who knows.", you can move on with your day but you've still just run away from the question.
petit bourgeois problems
>>8070972
>We know many philosophers and writers and thinkers have spent most of their days thinking about unanswerable questions. But you would hardly say their time is wasted would you?
Some, I would say do in a sense. Especially because I can't think of anyone who seriously suggested a good answer to the questions was to think about them all the time and not take any sort of action. Except perhaps that mopey faggot schopenhauer.
And I agree, the majority of people don't take existential questions seriously because they are difficult. This does not mean that the only answer to existential problems is either, sit and struggle with them all day, or put your fingers in your ears and pretend.
Nearly all existential thinkers are in agreement a full, authentic life in relation to these questions is one of immense action, struggle, joy and so on.
To come to the conclusion that the only 'right' answer to the existential questions is one purely of thinking and becoming a philosopher is 1: not the answer I think any of the existentialists would agree with and 2: a narrowing of the possible answers to the existential questions that we have previously agreed have no concrete answer.
Again, it's never about truly solving the questions, it's about living in relation to them to guide being because they are the most fundamental questions for being
>>8070978
Marxists, reducing the sum of total existence to the monetary level since February 21st 1848.
>>8071032
you know having lived all my life among working class people, I can tell you that they don't actually give any of this shit any time of the day, mostly because they're pressed about their more, let's say, material problems.
>>8070691
This profundity is the exact cause of my existentialism. It might not be as obvious to some people.
>>8071054
You might have lived among the working classes, but I am fucking *of* them.
With that in mind, you're absolutely right; but this isn't to their detriment. Humans are far better suited to survival than they ever were to thinking/leisure/etc. Someone living on the breadline will tend to live a more spiritually fulfilled life than those who are affluent; which tends to be the latter are, with rare exception, so vapid/materalistic/etc. They are trying to fill the void that prosperity has opened in their lives.
I envy those who can find fulfilment in watching the Kardashians/etc, when not working their dead-end jobs. More power to them.
The rest of us, whether having escaped financial hardship or never having experienced it to begin with, are left to rack our minds over the torturous questions that arise about life.
As George Bernard Shaw said:
>The man with a toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man.
>>8071056
I hope you don't think what that anon said was in itself 'profound'.
However, what was implied could very well be:
>who cares?
Who indeed? Does anyone care? Why do they care? Are they justified in doing so?
>just do whatever the fuck you want
Okay, but why? On what basis can you advocate this way of thinking. Should we perhaps do what we shouldn't want?
>One day it'll all be over anyway
Will it really?
>>8071072
GBS was a fucking hack.
The original contrarian, what with all his Nazi shit.
>>8070183
>>Still don't feel comfortable with myself; nor do I have any real idea about what 'I' am
This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'
As he attends inappropriately in this way, one of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self... or the view It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & established, or else he has a view like this: This very self of mine — the knower that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & bad actions — is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will stay just as it is for eternity. This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is not freed from birth, aging, & death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is not freed, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
>>8071072
>You might have lived among the working classes, but I am fucking *of* them.
Well I esitated to describe myself as such beacuse I actually haven't worked a day in my life, but it's not like I lived among them for a social experiment or some sort of vain fancy.
Anyway those who feel this void cause their wealthy could try a radical change give away all they're money they're so burdened with. Truth is, they'll never do it, showing that in fact their "existential crisis" that has oh so shaken their personal foundational beliefs, has in fact done nothing of that radical sort.
They will instead travel somewhere, raising their children to be as vain as them, all while their wives cuck them with some young personal trainer.
>>8071116
Well when you're enlightened, you can't go back to a state of ignorance.
All giving up your money would achieve is to suffer in discomfort, as opposed to comfort.
>>8071130
then they shouldn't cry about it, money doesn't give you happiness only if you don't know how to spend it or if you have little of it
>>8071130
>When you're enlightened, you can't go back to a state of ignorance
People do this shit all the time what are you talking about.
>>8071072
This.
I'd much rather have material concerns than spiritual ones.
>>8071188
People always have some melodramatic existential crisis (generally much later than should be at all expected, like their last year at university), and then they travel around the country to Oregon or something and whilst reading Kafka in a coffee shop they decide they're going to take life by the handles and live it to the fullest and be the best they can be. They go right back to where they started, going day by day spending free time playing video games and watching movies.
It doesn't matter how much you think about it you'll never find a satisfying conclusion
>>8071217
>They go right back to where they started, going day by day spending free time playing video games and watching movies.
Don't forget shitposting on /lit/.
>>8071227
A true existential crisis starts and ends with shitposting on /lit/.
>>8071218
>Mfw
>>8071217
>Kafka
I always see his name cropping up. What sort of pretentious shit does he write to attract these people?
Shouldn't you have the first existential crisis when you're like 13-14?
>>8071459
No, I was actually really comfortable with who I was for a very long time.
>>8071218
Welcome to absurdity and nihilism woot
>>8070693
I've seen you post that same story before. That 'I'm real' realization, even though it might have scared you at a young age, can also be very valuable, for it is a large step towards the realization of tathātā.
>>8071217
>implying playing video games and watching movies is not a worthwhile use of one's time in a meaningless universe
>>8071505
>Tfw obssessively reading Nietzsche as he allegedly overcame the nihilism of his predecessor
I need the answer...
>>8070183
I don't think I've ever had am existential crisis. I've had other kinds of anxiety, and momentary panic over NOT doing what I think I should be doing.
But throughout my life I've always had a pretty good idea that I wanted certain things, had certain drives, and over time these have changed as I explored more and more the world of thinking and knowledge.
I get meaning from many things in life, and continue to explore truth and life in ways that interest me and I find beneficial to society.
I'm 28, my life is meaningul, many here seem to think it's not, I think they are lost. Relativism and extreme individualism are in my opinion a symptom of social disorder, rather than everyone having arrives at the truth that there is no truth, most young people are lost in a world of information, pleasure, and the fear of the unknown caused by a rapidly changing society. Also the extreme inequality and corruption makes people feel impotent, and thus the apathy and cynicism sets in.
If you are seeking meaning, it's there, part subjective, and part objective truths coming together. Ask me, and I will try to show you.
>>8070210
Kek
>>8071939
can you show me how to get the puss
>>8072045
I'm not sure I can "show" you, the best advice I have is to treat women as human beings, and don't focus on getting puss.
I will add that, once you acquire the puss, it will be nice, but your life will be no more meaningful, and oftentimes you will actually feel the worse for it.
Now if you work on building an intimate relationship with a woman, that can be very meaningful, and puss will likely be a part of this intimacy.
>>8072082
>the best advice I have is to treat women as human beings, and don't focus on getting puss.
ok I'll take it
I'm not concerned about meaning, I have my own deleuzian view about it, but I wanted to hear advice from an older guy who seems pretty accomplished
cheers
>>8072082
>I'm not sure I can "show" you, the best advice I have is to treat women as human beings, and don't focus on getting puss
eh. seems like a good way to get "friendzoned" honestly. (If you lack skills with women. if you already have some, then listen to the advice).
You need to have an intention of sexuality and make it clear through touching, talk, etc to a degree. You can't just completely not focus on "getting puss"
>>8072259
Fair enough, but FIRST, know the person. That means understanding them as human beings, and if they give off certain cues that there exists a kind of attraction, at this point you might pursue it in such a fashion, but always being very tuned into how they feel.
When I say don't focus, that means don't make it your main mode of relation to that person.
The real concern though, is actually forming a healthy relationship. Listening, honest communication, expression of feelings, compassion, patience. These are all very important and take years to truly develop to their fullness. Many people just focus on sex, and thus never develop deeper relations.
>>8070183
>>Tfw trying to figure out who I am, what I am and what to get attached to
>>Paid $199 for a DNA test
>>8071054
your a dorable
>>8072332
came to post that
>>8070183
OP just look at Homer in your picture there. That's you. You are that dumb. You don't have a fucking clue how any of the science works. You aren't up there running some machine, but you will work hours to get money to pay for that shit because you think it matters.
>>8070183
That's a bit personal and embarrassing to me. But the answer is yes.
>>8072320
Very true.
I completely agree with you.
>expression of feelings
Do you have any advice on that topic? I feel like I am pretty well in tune with my feelings, but still not great. I have trouble fully recognizing their fullness and putting them to words.
>>8072502
It's no easy task. I've been reading On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers and he does an incredible job of showing the intricacy and potential of our relationships. One of his ideas is that you essentially have to be honest with the other person about your feelings, rather than a pretense, which means also expressing anger and bitterness, as well as love and delicacy. Not being afraid to do so, and speaking from a position of self, such as "I feel X when such and such hapens " rather than "it is bad when you do X".
I'm not sure if there are always perfect words for it, but coming to accept yourself as much as possible, and doing the same for the person you are with might enable an atmosphere where both people are free to relate to one another in an open and fulfilling way.
His ideas are very staggering when you realize they should be implemented in all avenues of social relations, not simply in therapy, and he does a very good job of arguing that point.
Just thinking about the potential in life for such meaningful relationships makes me feel hopeful for life and others. First comes the vision, then the will, then action towards it.
Had a first one around 8, when I learned what a black hole is. It freaked me the fuck out to think how small people are in the universe that in theory, a black hole could destroy the earth and all of humanity in like, one billisecond. The first crisis caused me to become more religious and take an interest in the bible. Latter, around 14 or something, I began to contemplate the idea of eternal life. This was a big mistake. After thinking about it, the idea of living forever made me legitimately feel like I was going insane, so I had to give up my religion for my own good, as I felt that i would much rather be dead forever then alive forever. This was harder then it sounds, as coming to terms with my atheism took years of questioning, worrying, fear, self doubt, and introspection. In the end, I decided just to enjoy life as it comes, and that mortality isn't something that should worry me.
My feeling is that most people experiencing an existential crisis are using troubling questions in order to satisfy their own laziness.
The alternative to the worldview that nothing you do matters is that everything you do matters which I think can well be argued as easily as the former but nobody wants to hear it because it is such a burden.
It's a cop out.
>>8072577
argue for the everything matters point.
I agree with you though. It might not 'matter' in the large universe way, but everything you do will affect many people you know and their lives
>>8071939
How would you recommend going about finding personal and larger 'objective' truths?
I feel like I gained a lot over the past year learning about myself and the world, but I then plateaued and can't keep on moving. Sure I now some activities that I enjoy and stuff, but I can't seem to go deeper for some reason.
As for a longer term struggle, I feel like I am constantly torn between giving myself up for the greater good and working very hard to help the world, or pursue my own pleasures fully and not caring.
>>8072704
https://youtu.be/zooE5GE81TU?t=1h5m21s
this video explains it in as much detail as i think is needed. There are some holes you can poke here and there but for the most part it's solid
you are what you do
don't think if achieve x it will make me feel y
Do things without the regard of the opinion of others and for the improvement of your self for the universal benefit of future others.
-having children
-correcting and contributing to man in totality
>>8072713
For me it has been becoming an educator. Helping other people to gain the ability to think critically, explore knowledge and see how it connects to a better life. I start with the fact that I love myself, and I want good things for myself because the opposite feels horrible, and given other people are fundamentally similar to me, this builds the basis for me to endeavor to build a better world. Also, it's just exhilarating to be a part of all that is humanity, and to watch it move. Of course it's scary knowing how much ignorance and hate also exists, but this only serves to once more give you something to define yourself, against the hateful.
The subjective part is how you fit in ,into the picture, but the objective part is that it is better to fit into society in a prosocial fashion. Create and do what you love, but also that which improves the lives of others.
I also find great meaning in continually learning other people's ideas, themselves, and myself, and this makes me better suited to form better relations and thereby have a greater impact.
Don't worry about going deeper, just stay on the right path, it slowly goes to where it is going, just do what is right along the way and things will deepen along the way.
That part about not caring is easy to fall into, but at its basis, it stems from impotence against massive forces. Do not give in, the less people that give in, the less impotent is the good. The only thing that defines how much good there is, is good people continuing to persevere. I know it's hard, but keep going, we need each other's help. Also, it's OK to take care of yourself when you need it, and pleasure can help keep us sane. You can't help others if you yourself are struggling, just don't think the self is the end all be all.
I suppose this is a kind of secular faith I hold, humanism, the power of people to make a better world, but the cool thing is that it is true. The more people who believe and work towards it, the more real it becomes.
