In Search of Life’s Meaning: Beyond Burnout to an Autonomous Life

A Question Resonating in Silence: “What Are We Doing Here?”

• Understand the fundamental causes of burnout and alienation experienced by modern people.
• Discover three paths to find life’s meaning: ‘pause,’ ‘connection,’ and ‘creation.’
• Gain inspiration to create your own life’s meaning through existential philosophy.

Why Are We Empty: A Society That Has Lost Meaning

On a quiet night, relying on the glow of a smartphone, unable to sleep, or sighing deeply on a crowded subway, a sudden question arises: “What am I doing here?” This question is not just a philosophical musing but a deep cry from within our existence seeking life’s meaning. Like Mr. Kang Jung-gu, who worked 20 years at an advertising agency and suddenly found himself struggling to breathe properly, we face this question head-on.

This article explores why this question feels especially urgent today by examining social structures and personal experiences, ultimately offering a philosophical compass to find our own answers.

A fundamental question arising in silence

1. Burnout as a Contagion: Exhaustion of the Soul

Burnout is not mere fatigue but closer to the exhaustion of the soul. As successful musician Lee Juck confessed that his music once felt “completely pointless” and meaningless, burnout stems not from a lack of talent or success but from a loss of purpose.

I have felt similar helplessness. No matter how much I sleep, fatigue remains; motivation fades and passion fluctuates, leaving an emptiness inside. This is not a matter of personal will but a signal that energy is completely depleted. The problem is that this state leads to a vicious cycle of self-destruction by relying on temporary pleasures like binge eating or drinking.

According to a report from Seoul Asan Medical Center, burnout occurs when there is a large gap between the ideals a person pursues and reality. Ultimately, the extreme fatigue we feel is spiritual exhaustion caused by failing to answer the question, “Why am I doing this?”

Burnout is a state of soul depletion beyond simple fatigue.

2. Alienation Created by the System: Why Have We Become Cogs?

The loss of meaning in modern people is not due to individual weakness but is deeply rooted in the social system we belong to. Korea’s “exam hell” teaches only survival competition, eliminating opportunities for cooperation or self-discovery.

Competition-centered education is the starting point of alienation.

Sociologist Erich Fromm pointed out that modern people have become ’errand runners’ rather than masters of the system. When asked, “Who are you?” we answer with social functions, not our inner selves (“I am an office worker”). Identity is reduced to ’exchange value’ in the market, and humans become alienated.

Ultimately, the emptiness felt at the office desk is an inevitable result of a system that removes intrinsic motivation from childhood and injects only external goals (university, employment, promotion).

People Who Set Out to Find Life’s Meaning

Some have chosen their own paths rather than the answers given by the system. Their stories show us new possibilities.

1. The Courage to Pause: Stopping the Race to Reflect on Oneself

Ms. Park So-yeon wanted to escape her empty life. After the desperate question, “Will I just end up working like this?” she gifted herself a ‘sabbatical year’ and went to Bangkok.

What she gained there was not a new job but how to live leisurely and a perspective on diverse ways of life. Such a ‘gap year’ to pause and reset one’s path helps discover life’s meaning in the process, not the outcome.

Sometimes pausing is the fastest way forward.

2. A Second Life: Finding Meaning in Connection with Others

After their main careers end, some begin their true lives. Mr. Yang Byung-taek, who taught computers in Sri Lanka after early retirement, and Ms. Michelle, 72, who volunteers for suicide prevention counseling after retirement, are examples.

Their commonality is shifting life’s focus from personal achievement to connection and service to others. Inner value gained through emotional stability and contribution, rather than titles or salary, becomes a powerful antidote to alienation.

Helping others fills one’s own life.

3. The Unknown Path: The Light and Shadow of an Autonomous Life

Leaving a stable job to follow one’s own path is not always romantic. YouTuber Choi Ji-eun, a “debt-ridden farmer,” honestly shares the hardships and loneliness of farming.

Still, she shouts, “Please farm. It’s so happy.” Why? Because even if the life is tough, it is a life fully chosen and created by herself. The shift from a passive employee to an active creator, that is, the recovery of autonomy, provides psychological rewards that nothing else can replace.

When you become the master of your life, even hardship becomes part of meaning.

Comparison: Three Paths Toward Meaning

| Action | Intentionally stepping out of the ‘race’ (gap year, sabbatical, travel) | Devoting the ‘second act’ to helping others (volunteering, mentoring) | Creating something new from nothing (startups, farming, creative work) | | Source of Meaning | Discovering inner values by escaping external pressure and focusing on the process | Transforming personal experience into community assets and finding purpose through contribution | Exercising full autonomy, taking responsibility for one’s life, and finding identity | | Representative Example | Ms. Park So-yeon who went to Bangkok | Ms. Michelle who volunteers in crisis counseling | YouTuber Choi Ji-eun, the ‘debt-ridden farmer’ |

A Philosophical Compass to Find Your Own Answer

1. “Existence Precedes Essence”: You Are Not a Tool

French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Existence precedes essence.” Tools are made after their purpose (essence) is defined, but humans are beings thrown into the world without a predetermined purpose (existence) and must create their purpose (essence) through their actions.

Modern society tries to reverse this order by forcing individuals to be ‘good students’ and ‘productive workers’ with predefined essences. This is the root of alienation. The act of finding life’s meaning is a struggle to reclaim the human formula of building meaning from our own existence through our choices and actions.

Sartre viewed humans as beings who create themselves.

2. “Amor Fati”: How to Love Your Fate

The freedom to choose comes with full responsibility, which can be frightening. Nietzsche found a philosophical answer to transform this burden into joy in ‘Amor Fati,’ meaning ’love your fate.’

This is not passive resignation but an active affirmation of one’s entire life, good or bad. The life of the ‘debt-ridden farmer’ is proof of Amor Fati. She does not deny hardship but embraces the reality born from her choices and finds happiness within it.

Meaning is not found by avoiding pain but by discovering pain worth willingly enduring.

Conclusion

The question “What are we doing here?” is not a sign that something is wrong but evidence that we are alive and awake. Through this journey, we have confirmed several important facts:

• Key Point 1: Burnout and alienation are not mere fatigue but a ‘crisis of meaning’ occurring within modern social systems.
• Key Point 2: Meaning can be discovered through various paths such as pause and reflection, connection with others, and autonomous creation.
• Key Point 3: Life’s meaning is not given but a ‘verb’ we create ourselves through existential choices and actions.

As this article closes, I invite you to view your life with curiosity rather than judgment. Today, how will you begin your story? The answer to the great question lies in the small, concrete responses we give through daily life.