10d ago in Words of Wisdom
Ennui (4 mins)
Ennui: A feeling. Dissatisfaction or listlessness caused by a lack of occupation or excitement.
I learned this word whilst reading The Notes From The Underground by Dostoyevsky. It is a feeling I am all too familiar with, and one that I am sure is not unique to me. I did not know the feeling could be summarised in a word.
The feeling of Ennui is like a tiredness with life, it occurs when we're burned out, when we've been trying and trying day in day out, over and over and yet nothing seems to have come from it. The chances are, if you're anything like me, if you sacrifice your time, energy and effort to pursue something "more" then you too have felt this.
More extreme forms of ennui, or perhaps natural extensions of it could be characterised as a sort of suicidal ideation: The feeling of "it would be ok if I didn't wake up tomorrow", or perhaps even wishing for that.
In Dostoyevsky's work the protagonist turns to nihilism. He does not care for other people, he views his work as above everybody else's, he is superior in every way because he can see the world for how it really is. He is bitter and resentful and entirely unpleasant to be around, doomed to make poor decision after poor decision fighting against any helping hand or act of kindness. If we are not careful, it's not inconceivable that we let ennui degenerate into this sort of outlook and lifestyle ourselves.
Ennui, I would argue is natural. However I would presume it is much more prevalent in the modern day than ever before. I removed myself from social media for a year, and upon my return after 1 month I found myself much more susceptible to this feeling. "Comparison is the thief of joy" so the saying goes; it is also the catalyst of dissatisfaction, loss of excitement and utter listlessness. Content of far more successful people foisted upon us each and everyday can easily create the uneasy feeling.
The good news is, this is just a feeling and not a chronic disorder. To remedy yourself of this feeling, I borrow the 8-dimensions of success from Peterson: "You need an intimate partner, you need a family, you need some friends, you need a job or a career, you need to use your time outside of work productively and meaningfully, and treat yourself appropriately mentally and physically so you can maintain your health, you need to engage with the broader social community, continually educate yourself and develop your skills."
If you ever read The Notes From The Underground, you'll see our protagonist has not one of these dimensions checked off. He is hopeless and imperially alone. With just a couple of these dimensions missing we can feel Ennui, but it's important that we don't let it fester and spread, because it will spread if we don't tend to it.
Check yourself against these dimensions, and see what you're doing right, notice it, be grateful for it and Ennui won't take over your life.
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Ennui (4 mins)
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