Meaning in the Time of COVID
It’s a new year--I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t quite feel like it! I wish we could’ve left COVID behind in 2021. I acknowledge a lot of internal frustration about the situation we, as a world, are currently in. I think a lot of us share in a sense of tediousness right now. But, given that we haven’t left the pandemic in the memories of last year, I wanted to share a psychological practice that has helped me during the pandemic, especially when it has felt like we’re just “going through the motions.” The time feels ripe for such a thing…
Meaning in the Small Things
A resounding sentiment in 2020/2021 was that things sometimes felt a tad pointless with all the big problems at hand. Especially, because it was like life got smaller: isolation, anxiety and monotony being the key culprits, in my opinion. Through my work, I started thinking about what brings us a sense of meaning in life. But what does “meaning” mean? Steger (2017) defines meaning as the over-arching concept that includes a sense of purpose and significance. Furthermore, he writes: “meaning in life seems to play a substantial role in reducing psychological suffering. Meaning in life consistently is negatively related to levels of psychological distress and mental illness, such as symptoms of eating disorders, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety” (Steger, 2017, p. 76).
Things like work, family, friends can bring us a sense of meaning; it’s important that we have purpose/significance in these “major” life arenas. The next time you’re catching up with a friend, take a moment to internally name how valuable he/she is to you. Perhaps even share it. The point is, we want to make the moment more salient so that we can call it to mind later.
With all the isolation and monotony of the last couple years, meaning in the “big” things can feel hard to grasp. That said, we can still cultivate a sense of significance: sometimes, it’s ok to find meaning in the small things! One of my regular practices since 2020 has been to identify any things of significance. For example, I remember walking the dog while it was snowing one evening last year: he started running around, kicking up snow everywhere, clearly very excited. It made me smile, and that was my thing of “meaning” for the day. Small, but significant, to me.
References:
Steger, M. (2017). Meaning in life and wellbeing. In M. Slade, L. Oades, & A. Jarden (Eds.), Wellbeing, recovery and mental health (pp. 75-85). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316339275.008
