Rediscovering Life’s Spark Amidst Life’s Transitions

Over time, our perception of the world can change drastically under the influence of life’s trials and emotional experiences. Often, under the pressure of losses, disappointments, and changing habitual roles, we find ourselves tinged with shades of apathy—a state in which the mind and soul lose their usual activity. This condition cannot be accepted as a normal manifestation of life, because it is energy and liveliness that determine our ability to feel joy and strive for something new. Instead, the feeling of inner emptiness becomes an alarming signal: it indicates that the source of life’s passion is beginning to run dry, and familiar emotions are turning into a persistent indifference.

Constant immersion in sorrow and disappointment over time can evolve into chronic gloom or depression, where each new situation is viewed through the lens of hopelessness. This is not simply emotional exhaustion, but a serious disruption of internal balance that calls for a conscious reassessment of life priorities. Timely attention to the state of one’s soul, the search for new meanings, and the restoration of emotional activity help to regain the lost spark and refill life with energy and a desire for change.

Although emotional changes are a natural part of life, a persistent state of apathy should be seen as a call to action. It is important to listen to oneself and actively enrich each day with new experiences, because only a dynamic, meaningful existence helps us preserve life’s force and joy in any circumstance.

Why, as we age, does our approach to life become tainted by apathy and indifference, and can this be considered normal?

As we age, our attitude towards life may shift under the influence of various circumstances and emotional experiences. For instance, apathy and indifference may arise as a result of accumulated disappointments, the loss of familiar roles and meanings, especially when one faces a sense of emptiness during transitional periods, such as the "empty nest syndrome." At the same time, it is important to understand that apathy, as described in one source, is not merely fatigue but a state of “helplessness of the soul and mind,” a “painful indifference in the soul…” that is considered negative because, by nature, the soul and mind should be active. This condition is not a natural manifestation of life; it signals a disruption in emotional balance.

It is also noted that if a person frequently experiences sadness and disappointment, this can over time become a habit, evolving into chronic gloom or depression. In this context, apathy is not seen as a normal stage, but rather as a warning that the inner source of life’s energy and meaning is gradually depleting.

Supporting citation(s):
"This state of 'silence of thoughts' is also called 'apatheia', which is the literal translation of the Greek word ‘apatheia’. But this word, rendered in Russian as 'апатия' (apathy), has nothing in common with the Greek original: 'apatheia'. Apathy is—the helplessness of the soul and mind. Apathy is a painful indifference in the soul as a result of disappointment, grief, illness, or some kind of shock. This condition is unnatural because the soul and mind are naturally inclined to be active. Apathy is a negative, numbing, and deadening phenomenon." (source: link )

"If a person frequently becomes upset and sad for various reasons, over time this becomes habitual, and then the condition advances to the next stage: it becomes gloom. Gloom is sadness that has turned into a chronic disease. In contemporary language, gloom is known as depression. While there are often specific reasons for a person’s sadness, in the case of gloom the person remains in a state of depression without any apparent cause." (source: link )

Thus, although changes in emotional perception may occur with age, a persistent state of apathy and indifference is regarded as negative and abnormal, signaling the need to reassess one’s inner state and to seek new sources of life’s meaning.