Hollowness is not unique
Life sucks. It has no meaning and it hurts.
But if you think you've woken up, don't make the mistake of staying there. Yes, life is painful, and hollow, and fundamentally devoid of meaning. All of this is true and it sucks so, so much. Your feelings are valid.
But isn't it possible that when you look at others who are seemingly happy, they are not delusional? Yes, maybe some are genuinely unknowing, lost, and in blissful ignorance.
But talk to anyone for just a bit and it's true that most people will acknowledge this fact. Most people do feel like life sucks. They know it too.
And maybe that's why happiness, wholesomeness is so valued. Because it's HARD to get! The default state is just as you realised! It is hard to strive for happiness, for good things, for wholesomeness.
Why is it hard? Because you don't need to strive for it. You're right, you don't need to pursue meaning or happiness. Even harder still to construct it even if you believe in pursuing it.
So, why should you strive for happiness?
If I can at least convince you that most people do realise this, then it's a good starting point.
(I want to say that if you can't, you might as well die, but this is such a serious and overwhelming issue that I will not submit this suggestion.)
I submit some reasons to get motivated:
- There are some pleasurable things, like sugar in candy. But this runs the risk of being hedonistic - and also fairly nihilistic.
- There are pursuits that are valuable, like the craft of fine arts, or making a community beter. But this is hard to slip into, it often takes a lot of energy to get into.
- Then there is to stop being lonely. This is a selfish reason.
It goes like this. You are lonely, and it sucks to be so. So, to find other people you must be somewhat attractive. Not just in looks, but as a person. You need to be passionate, have a pursuit, have things you believe in.
It's intuitively true that this will help you be more attractive. And in being more attractive, you raise your chances of finding good companionship. And in good companionship, you find yourself being less lonely.
I say nothing about the ethics of this, and of whether you should have innate interest in things.
But at the very least, to stave off the hurt, a solution (that doesn't involve non-existence) is to make yourself better. Increase your chances of success. I am appealing to your self-interest to lessen your boredom of life. Lessen the loneliness. Lessen the hollowness.
Hopefully, this is a path to being less lonely. It is also an argument to indirectly motivate people to start giving a shit about something.
Maybe in the pursuit of this self-interested goal, you find something to be passionate about - genuinely. That would be nice. Else, at least you get out of the existentialist fugue that is so easy to fall into.
In any case: If life doesn't matter, better to enjoy it then not. Why? Well just purely for your own sake.