Falling Flat

I was not familiar with the word samvega but the illustrative definition in this article say it all:

Have you ever worked incredibly hard for a long time toward a goal only to find out that, once you’ve accomplished it, things feel a bit flat? That is saṃvega. Have you ever looked back at a stage in your life and thought, Wow, what a waste? That is saṃvega. Do you ever feel like everyone is just pretending and you’re just playing along? Saṃvega.

I recently experienced the first variant. For over a week, I was completely consumed in a project that made time fly and I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my mind even after I wrapped up for the day. This was more alive than I had felt in my professional life in a long time. And yet after all was said and done, results were achieved and such, it felt as if nothing had changed. I now know a word to describe it.

This is the word to describe the unsettling realization that the routines and goals of everyday life may ultimately be pointless. It manifests as a sense of disconnection, futility, or the suspicion that there is a deeper truth just out of reach. It would be good to harness that feeling, turn it into a creative force, restructuring things in life that lead to such feelings to begin.



No comments:

Eternal Youth

This article argues that American wellness culture is a complex mix of positive health engagement and dangerous pseudoscience. The challeng...