How to Create Meaning When Life Stops Making Sense
A conversation on mood, purpose, community, and the pressures of modern life with Eric Maisel.
Psychologist and author Eric Maisel joins Mind Body Health & Politics to explore one of the deepest struggles of modern life: how to create meaning in a world that feels increasingly overwhelming, isolating, and disconnected.
Together, he and Dr. Richard Louis Miller discuss why so many people feel lost, how meaning is made rather than found, and why community—and creative connection—are essential for our emotional well-being.
Eric shares insights from his decades of work with creative and performing artists, describing a new global initiative he’s helping build: the International Association of Creative and Performing Artists, a worldwide community designed to support creatives through loneliness, rivalry, depression, and the unique pressures of artistic life.
Richard and Eric also talk about authoritarian family systems, the decline of the arts, the crisis of loneliness, existential wellness coaching, mood regulation, and why human beings must learn to “matter while we are here.”
This conversation is a rich exploration of purpose, creativity, and the inner life we’ve forgotten to nurture.
Guest
Eric Maisel — Psychologist, creativity coach, and author of more than 60 books including Redesign Your Mind, The Van Gogh Blues, Rethinking Depression, and The Power of Daily Practice.
Key Topics
Why meaning is a feeling—not something you “find”
The modern crisis of loneliness and alienation
Why creative minds face unique psychological challenges
Rivalry, comparison, and depression in the arts
The International Association of Creative and Performing Artists
How community protects mental health
Existential wellness coaching and life purpose
Authoritarianism inside families
The role of moods and how we can influence them
Stoicism, existentialism, and internal agency
How sleep thinking boosts creativity
The pressures on artists in the age of AI
Why “doing the next right thing” anchors purpose
Creating personal meaning through values
Designing the “room of your mind” to change your thoughts
Why many people feel they don’t matter—and how to reclaim inner worth
Timestamps
00:00 — Why human beings are tribal animals and need community01:10 — Introducing Eric Maisel: psychologist, author of 60+ books01:50 — Eric’s radar: a new global community for creative and performing artists03:37 — What the ideal worldwide organization would look like05:45 — Challenges creatives face: loneliness, rivalry, anxiety, depression06:40 — What artists truly need: hope, connection, meaning08:00 — Are the arts under attack?12:22 — Power outage pause — resuming the conversation13:00 — Do artists have unique sensitivities? The creative personality15:40 — Creative identity vs. the “almost-artist” (artist manqué)16:03 — Eric’s next radar theme: multiple life purposes vs. a single purpose17:20 — Meaning as a feeling, not a destination18:24 — Learning from past meaningful experiences20:00 — Creating value-based meaning; the Churchill example22:02 — Do we choose our moods? Richard and Eric debate24:00 — Richard’s story of surviving a life-threatening accident25:54 — The high bar of mood control — but it is possible26:18 — A second real-life example: childbirth without a C-section27:04 — Richard’s current AFib episode — choosing the mood anyway28:27 — Can most people handle modern life? The overwhelm of the mind29:50 — Stoicism and existentialism: ancient tools for modern crises31:27 — Why mainstream psychiatry avoids existential issues31:55 — Label culture and the limits of the DSM33:19 — Coaching creative clients: guilt, pressure, and overwhelm34:30 — Eric’s daily routine: writing at 5:30 a.m.35:14 — The importance of “sleep thinking” for creativity37:28 — Writing in chunks: completing one thousand-word piece38:41 — Afternoons, rest, cooking, and life rhythm39:46 — Richard proposes a new term: “accumulated intelligence”40:30 — Using AI to assist the writing process41:16 — Accumulated intelligence as humanity’s collective memory42:10 — How the new artist organization will include global suffering communities43:21 — Richard’s Ukrainian heritage and the role of war in creativity44:26 — Introducing Timothy Snyder and the book On Tyranny45:59 — Family authoritarianism and childhood wounds47:48 — Why the only solution is often to leave the authoritarian48:25 — Gender dynamics, dominance, and archaic biases49:07 — Leadership, archetypes, and political psychology49:20 — Break: Richard invites listeners to explore MBHP archives51:06 — Returning: Richard promotes Eric’s work51:33 — Redesigning the “room of your mind” — the core of Redesign Your Mind53:59 — Life purpose statements — doing the “next right thing”55:20 — Creating a personal life-purpose icon55:56 — Closing reflections and gratitude
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