Weekly Nugget: What if None of It Means Anything?
Hi friend,
What you do and how you be, in the worst moments of your life, defines the quality of what comes after. —Saqibism, New Clothes, pg. 84
When you’re suffering the most—when it looks like life has pinned you down and there is no possibility—pause and remember this fundamental truth Erhardt spoke: life itself is empty and meaningless, and it’s empty and meaningless that it’s empty and meaningless.
That sounds shocking at first, right? Yet think about it. From the moment we’re born, we inherit all sorts of “meanings” and “shoulds” from our families, our communities, our cultures.
These silent forces shape how we behave and what we believe, and we rarely question them. But the astonishing and liberating realization is that none of these meanings are inherently real.
They exist because we’ve collectively agreed upon them—often without even knowing it.
So if you’re feeling powerless at work because your manager is a jerk and always finds fault with you, or if your partner’s disregard has you depressed, or if your business is failing and you’re drowning in self-doubt, or you are failing to find a new direction, notice how the meaning you attach to these circumstances shapes your suffering and your capacity for results. It’s not that the facts don’t exist—maybe your manager yelled at you for work unfinished—but there’s no inherent meaning to it. The pain you feel largely comes from the meaning you give to the facts.
We are meaning-making machines. We give everything a narrative, a twist, a story—even the claim “it’s all meaningless” is, ironically, a meaning we invent. But here’s the kicker: since we created all these stories in the first place, we can also create new ones. We can choose meanings that give us power, possibility, and rejuvenation instead of ones that drag us down.
Think of it as an ontological detox; where you can reinvent yourself by reinventing the meaning.
Once you grasp that everything is empty of inherent meaning, you’re free to stand in that emptiness—no longer weighed down by the unexamined meanings that have held you prisoner. You realize, “Okay, I can give this situation or relationship or crisis a new meaning, like a space for dealing with it—one that actually empowers me.”
Yes, this goes for big, dramatic issues, too: entire nations wage war under the banner of some grand “inherent” meaning, but if you really look, you’ll see that even that has been invented, carried forward, and rarely questioned. That’s how the victors in history have always rewritten what “it all means,” while the next generation grows up numb to how arbitrary it all was.
But again, no meaning is set in stone. The only meaning anything has is the meaning you attach to it—your job, your relationships, your identity, your regrets, your hopes. It’s all empty by default, and that emptiness is where your freedom lives.
I was recently helping a senior manager at Microsoft who felt utterly trapped by a difficult boss and high-pressure demands. She had convinced herself that something was fundamentally wrong with her—and thus she was doomed. That’s the classic “victim card,” which can feel oddly comforting at first, yet it keeps you stuck, with no room to act. Once she saw the meaning she was giving to her situation—and realized she could choose a new one—everything shifted.
Likewise, if you ever find yourself thinking, “I can’t help it,” “I’m in over my head,” or “I was just born into this problem,” you can choose to take full responsibility instead. If something isn’t working, call it out. If your manager is using undignified practices, fearlessly say, “I am a bullshit-free zone, and this is bullshit.” If that doesn’t work, go higher up. If that still doesn’t work and doesn’t empower you, create a new meaning—maybe it’s time to shift roles or companies altogether.
It all boils down to this:
Life is fundamentally empty and meaningless.
All suffering arises from the meaning you attach to events.
You have the power to invent new meanings.
So here’s your call to action: Check in with yourself.
What meaning are you creating here, and is it empowering or disempowering for you? If it no longer works, create a new meaning—and watch how your world transforms.
It is all inherently empty, so why not stand for something that sets you free?
With care,
Saqib