I'm sorry you have no close emotional connections. As I mentioned, I do have one, but I can't live for another person! I want something from direct experience of the world. The things I enjoy are hard to come by - quiet, natural places. Even my garden is a community garden, not right outside my door where I need it, not that I have my own door as I live in a crackerbox in a city with 100s of others. Yes, I'm working to change things, but currently things feel wrong.

Religion is also not optimal for me, same reason. On the point of fun - as a child I despised the concept of mere fun. Now I see some point in it - comedy films can engage me, and maybe there is even meaning there, understanding.

Many say meaning comes from helping others or society. That's very anthropocentric, and I am more ecocentric, which is a heartbreaking way to be in the present. Point being, however, that indulgent fun does not bring true satisfaction, even though many of us could use a little more of it. Couple of recent general interest articles relating to this:

There's More to Life Than Being Happy - Emily Esfahani Smith - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/ar...piness/278250/

Note: The first article above is newer, and is also linked from the bottom of the older second article.

Sadly, the work I've done had no great meaning for me, even though people did care about the quality. Unhappycamper, is there anything in the world that you wonder at and that delights you? That is the only place meaning lies for me. Unfortunately, humans tend to destroy all that, which is the heartbreaking part. Yes, there is amazing human ingenuity, but when we can't get the overall trajectory right, I don't get excited about the internal machinery pushing us in that direction!