What we can do when it feels like nothing matters

A phrase can burrow deep into our psyche if and when we let it. One I’ve wrestled with this year is “nothing matters”.

It’s surprising how flippantly I’ve used this phrase. It can even be expressed with a dark, yet humor-laced laughter. A way to blow off steam that’s built up due to anxiety, stress, or the many atrocities we see across the globe, whether among humans or what humans are doing to our planet.

“Nothing matters”, in a subtle way, masks over what’s really happening on a deeper level. A deep sadness over the many challenges we face in the world. An anger directed at myself for doing work that is so far from being aligned with my values. Work that has very little purpose or meaning.

When sadness, anger, or any tough emotion builds up over time, those emotions can feel increasingly unsettling to face head-on. It feels like recklessly opening a fire hydrant — a force of water blasting everything in its path.

As scary as it can be to feel difficult emotions or to have a tough conversations, we must face them and have them. They are our escape hatch, and a path to remembering what matters. I love this bit of wisdom from author John Green (and poet Robert Frost):

“As the poet Robert Frost put it, "The only way out is through/" And the only good way through is together. Even when circumstances separate us - in fact, especially when they do - the way through is together.”

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In day-to-day living, acknowledging what matters, what feels good, or what is important goes a long way toward dissolving the anti-life, “nothing matters” mantra.

Joy matters. Hope matters. Connection matters. Laughter matters. Curiosity matters. Creativity matters. People matter. Earth matters. Love matters. Relationships matter. Even sadness and grief matter. The wide expanse and variety of the human experience matters.

On a macro scale, the long span of the Universe and our own planet (our home and habitat) tends to move me out of this nihilistic mindset. The formation of the Earth over 4+ billion years matters. The geological and biological shifting and changing of our planet matters.

Such unfolding brought with it tremendous beauty that we as humans are able to witness to this very day (and must work to preserve). Soaring mountain ranges, wise Redwood trees, oceans and rivers that have seen and know a lot.

This long, deep view of time reminds me that I’m connected to an interlocking chain of matter(ing) that began far, far, far before humans entered the picture. We are but a blip in universal time, and a blip that still matters.

The Earth is our home, our ultimate provider and sustainer. The trees allow us to breathe. Water allows us to live. These elements we witness and encounter everyday are literally the foundation for our existence. That matters tremendously.

We are all part of a cosmic lineage that goes far beyond what our mind can process or fathom. Cosmic ancestry.

Every event that’s happened in the history of our universe has led to this present moment. And this moment. And this moment.

An unfolding of epic proportions. And that, my fellow humans, matters.