From Stop Pathologizing Normal Life, published this July in the NYTimes:
Which brings us to life’s meaning. The more meaningful that people find their lives, the more resilient they are when facing stress and the lower their risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide.
Finding meaning is often characterized as a contemplative exercise, something arrived at through deep deliberation. But while our ability to turn inward and ponder existential questions makes humans unique in our quest for meaning, finding meaning tends to involve outward-oriented action. That’s because we feel the most meaningful when we are doing things that provide social significance — a sense that we matter, that we play an important role in other people’s lives.
Mattering matters. Easy placation has been the trend in education, with the blunting of tests, grades, etc. Later, a frictionless 100% remote life working bunker shifts hanging out with a computer all day is increasingly the demand from the workforce, including in my field of radiology.
How many people are selecting their day-to-day for significance and not just ease and convenience? Friction is frustrating, and yet, just as our muscles grow only when used, it seems like—amongst a substantial segment of society—our quest for control and smoothness may be removing a texture we didn’t know we needed.