The other night, I was feeling a bit lost and purposeless, despite the fact that I wrote a book on meaning recently. The supreme irony...I have spent countless hours being interviewed on podcasts and radio shows, yet last night I felt somewhat empty. Naming our emotions honestly begins the process of getting unstuck. So now, I’m feeling a bit better. 

My good friend, Jim Bly, sent me this piece concerning the Greek notion of ‘acedia’. Take a quick read and you too might find a bit of relief. Remember...keep everything in the proper perspective.  

Carpe diem. Doug.

The Ancient Greeks Had a Word for the Specific Kind of Bad You're Feeling Right Now
Listless and unable to motivate yourself to get your work and other things done? That's acedia.'

By Jessica Stillman, Contributor, Inc.com | August 31, 2020

A scholar of the fifth century is probably the last person you'd think to look to for a description of our modern woes in the time of coronavirus. But writing on The Conversation recently, Australian Catholic University's Jonathan Zecher pretty much nails it:

"With some communities in rebooted lockdown conditions and movement restricted everywhere else, no one is posting pictures of their sourdough. Zoom cocktail parties have lost their novelty, Netflix can only release so many new series. The news seems worse every day, yet we compulsively scroll through it."

We get distracted by social media, yet have a pile of books unread. We keep meaning to go outside but somehow never find the time. We're bored, listless, afraid and uncertain.

This description, it turns out, isn't spot on just because Zecher is a perceptive observer. It's also incredibly accurate because Zecher has long been familiar with the unpleasant feeling afflicting us now.

Apparently, it's called acedia, it's been recognized for millennia, and learning this word can help you get out of your funk.