Languishing

The world seems to be opening up. Shopping centers, work places, restaurants, and even casinos seem to be in function. Vaccines are in circulations, and some countries even have enough to vaccinate their citizens four times over. We are slowly coming back into normality, but why do some of us still feel bland. Psychologist Adam Grant puts it best in his latest op-ed for The New York Times: “It wasn’t burnout — we still had energy. It wasn’t depression — we didn’t feel hopeless. We just felt somewhat joyless and aimless.” Essentially we are all actively àrticipating in life, but we are doing so without motivation or meaning. This feeling is called languishing, first coined by Emory University’s sociologist Corey Keyes, it stands for the sense of stagnation and emptiness.

The pandemic took the world in a blind roller coaster. You could not see the next twist and turns, but when they hit, you definitely felt them. In the beginning, almost everyone was on their fight or flight mode due to the uncertainty of the situation, and because of multiple mandates we were forced to transform our schedules into ones that could be performed within the home. Although at first these routines eased the acute sense of worry, as the pandemic dragged on, the realities kicked in which paved the way for this feelling of languish.

Keys highlights how “languishing is neither feeling good nor sad, it's feeling really nothing.” Unlike depression where one feels drained and worthless, languishing is where you are functioning but only half way. Many psychologists see mental health in a spectrum: depression is on one end and flourishing is on the other. If we were to place languishing in this spectrum, it would be in the middle. You may not be flourishing, but you are definitely also not in the best mental state either.

Languishing is not a recent concept, in fact, it can be dated back to the fourth century with Evargious Ponticus, the Christian Monk who penned the eight deadly sins. Although Pope Gregory I omitted this sin from his more popular version, the eighth deadly sin was one called acedia, a want of interest in life. This need to fill their empty void would lead people to fill it in with “unsavory vices” which is why acedua was mixed in with the sloth deadly sin. The French language also has a word that relates to languishing, ennui. Ennui was first brought by existentialists in the early 1700s and they defined it as a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction.

There is no set cure or antidote to the feeling of languishing, but there are many different methods one can take in order to slowly get back into the other end of the spectrum of mental illness, flourishing. Psychologist Adam Grant recommends a concept called “flow.” Similar to how the main character in the recent award winning Pixar movie “Soul”, Joe Gardner goes into this flow state when he plays music, Grant recommends the same. He claims that this elusive state where the whole world melts away helps avoid languishing and promotes a happier state of mind. He also makes sure to emphasize how the activity does not matter, whether it be running, movie watching, puzzle making, all you need is to enter that flow state. Another tip that can help you go from languishing to flourishing is to block your schedule. Mark specific time slots where you work consistently with no interruptions and then mark another moment in time where you can relax and enjoy personal moments. By having set uninterrupted work periods, it allows for more focus and attention into the said piece of work. For some, it has even led them to a work-flow state, producing above average work. Lastly, with a feeling languishing comes a lack of motivation. In order to tackle this, one can try to focus on small tasks or projects. Once that small task is accomplished, one is motivated to take on a bigger project; this produces a snowball effect that brings motivation a sense of flourishing.

As we are in the stretch of the pandemic, it is important to understand that languishing is acceptable. It does not have to be one way or the other. Not being depressed doesn't mean you are flourishing, and vice versa; once we begin accepting this state of languishment, we will be able to work towards flourishing.