For many of us, there lurks an inner fear that we are not living deeply and meaningfully enough.
We suspect that our day-to-day lives become too caught up in superficial concerns and distractions, keeping us skimming along the surface of existence rather than plunging into its depths. This sense that we are living shallowly can fill us with quiet desperation.
The markers of a shallow life are all around us. Do our conversations rarely move beyond basic platitudes and small talk? Are we constantly distracted by social media, pop culture, and other trifles? Do we avoid challenging intellectual, creative, and spiritual pursuits in favour of easy comforts and diversions? Do we often feel bored, apathetic, or adrift - even amid a full schedule?
These symptoms point to lives centred around temporary things rather than substantial ideas and pursuits.
This is not to say we should become ascetics and renounce all fun or leisure. But we feel hollow when superficialities dominate. We desire lives with a richness of purpose, meaning, and impact.
How, then, do we plunge into the depths?
The solutions are both simple and profoundly complex. We must cultivate presence, listen more to our inner wisdom than outer voices, and nurture our humanity through compassion and character. We must push beyond complacency, take creative risks, and love boldly.
We must spend less time on what is trivial and more on what touches what is eternal.
Living deeply requires rejecting schizoid busyness and opening up to life's beauty and pain. It means embracing solitude and severe reflection, as well as cultivating community.
We satisfy our yearning for depth by leaning into our mortality and choosing integrity over appearances. Though the work is hard, it kindles our spirits as little else can.
We all get pulled into shallow living, but the more resounding life calls. Its allure will never fade. In its frightening depths, we find what our restless souls truly desire - meaning, purpose, and fully realised lives.