“We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.” – E. O. Wilson
There is a phenomenon in the world of therapy and therapists where themes in our clients’ work come up from time to time. It’s weird how that works, and I’m not really sure why it happens, but it’s undeniable. Themes like work-related stress, family conflict, substance use, etc. are all pretty common, but there’s a sort of “super theme” that I see in nearly every walk of life, regardless of the reasons for coming to therapy – it’s that we’re lost, and we’re all trying to find our way.
Imagine for a minute, in the days before GPS, if you found yourself in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how you got there and not a clue as to what state, town, desert, etc. you were in. But in front of you, at the touch of your fingertips, you had like 1000 maps, all with different unmarked terrains, places, and roads. How would know which one you needed? Which direction you should go? Where could you find food, water, shelter, etc.? How would you know which maps had value to you?
This is where a lot of us find ourselves; we need to go in a direction to find purpose in our lives, but because of the amount of information we have available to us we have no idea how to find our way. At no other time in history have we had access to the near totality of history and of human knowledge, and at times it can feel overwhelming. Once our basic needs are met what we desire is to feel loved, to belong somewhere, and to have a purpose for our lives. But how do we choose a purpose when there are a thousand causes screaming for help in the media? When any conceivable hobby or career can be exhaustively researched and experienced virtually?
This theme is particularly visible among young adults, the very age set that grew up with access to the internet and the ability to access all the information they wanted as they came of age. An unfortunate by-product of the most advanced communication tool in human history is that we can’t seem to focus or find purpose on any one thing, because we have been inundated with “all the things.” We are missing what previous generations had: less information, fewer choices, and more time to explore those choices. With fewer choices comes a higher value placed on each of those choices. If you were lost, and had only three maps to choose from, wouldn’t it be easier to identify terrain, buildings, roads? So we need a mechanism for making these choices, for whittling away the hundreds or thousands of other avenues that might hold our interests. This lies in identifying our values.
Values are something we feel strongly about, that we would gladly put our time, energy, and resources into supporting or living because we believe it to be important to that world. A lot of us who feel lost for long periods of our life have frequently not identified those things we care about, often because we have too many things vying for our attention, or which seem important. Taking the time to slow down and reflect, to identify and record thoughts and feelings we have about aspects of life worth valuing can be a great way to feel connected to a purpose, to feel a little less like we are drowning in information and more anchored to a direction in life.
-Jason