I know this is more fitted for the mental health community on lemmy.world, but that community feels like shouting in the void. I want to have a more “normal” talk about like life, death, purpose, and stuff. How do y’all not just get consumed by how you will be gone one day, how one day no one in the world will even remember you. Most of us aren’t even gonna have a wikipedia page, not even gonna make it into one single news article (obituaries don’t count). I’m just so sad. What’s the point. What keeps you going?
Edit: I live in the USA btw, I’m around age 18-25. I was diagnosed with depression last year and I took some antidepressants for some time, but I’ve since stopped taking them for a while.
Preface: I’m not going to pretend to know your situation or circumstances. If you’re struggling to find meaning or purpose in life, I’ve my answers but there’s isn’t AN answer even if you look for it. Don’t hesitate to seek out help if you feel there’s anything that you can’t get through alone. I’m generally healthy, but I’ve had a few times I’ve spiralled through an unhealthy amount of anxiety. With that all said, my answer is below and you can see if it might help you.
For me, doing kind things for other people brings me joy and purpose. I know I can’t fix the world and all it’s complicated problems, but I’m capable enough to do something that would mean the world for a person, even if for just a moment.
Why do people have to know my name? After my life, does how much money I have to my name, how many newspaper articles are made mentioning me doesn’t matter at all? I think about the kind things people have done for me, and I think about how I can pay forward even a small fraction of it. And even if the people I help don’t know who I am, does that matter?
The mark I leave on the world that I have control over, are the things I do and the choices I make while I am a living being. That means that if I make a concious choice to improve myself and improve others’ lives to the best degree I can, that mark will have been positive. Even if it’s the smallest bit of noise in the universe, it will forever have an impact even if no one knows about it.
The world is a sad unforgiving place that you have very little to no control over its unforgivingness. Once you realize this and try to make even the most microscopic pockets of positivity around you, perhaps you will be able to build something that resembles direction.
Donate, volunteer, socialize, talk to successful and unsuccessful people alike. Meditate/be mindful. Explore how other people are feeling without needing to make their problems your problems. Connect with nature. Connect with the man-made. Connect with people. Feel your presence in this world with all your available senses. See everything that IS for what it IS, rather than what it could be. Only from there, begin to look at what you can do about it.