We’re Floating Again in Fear and Uncertainty. How Do We Land?

“The fear of the unknown is possibly the most fundamental fear of human beings,” says clinical psychologist Kevin Antshel. But what is it about the unknown that creates such anxiety?

If we start from the idea that the primary human urge is to stay alive, it follows that we’ll do everything in our power to avoid danger. The unknown represents danger, which is why it produces such anxiety: we just don’t know what’s coming.

So much of our lives, then, revolves around reducing uncertainty. We wear seatbelts, carry insurance, take care of our health, join communities, lead predictable lives, all because these habits ground us and make us feel safe.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the prolonged uncertainty it brought into our lives, turned that safety upside down. The virus was the ultimate unknown. Month after month, we floated in fear, picking up new safety habits on the fly.

Here’s the crazy part. Only a few months ago, we thought the nightmare was behind us. A miracle vaccine was dissipating the fear of the unknown. Our lives were inching back to predictability.

Only a few months ago, we thought the nightmare was behind us…And then, just as we were enjoying our long-awaited return, a nasty variant barged into our lives. The Delta variant is spooking us.

And then, just as we were enjoying our long-awaited return, a nasty variant barged into our lives. The Delta variant is spooking us. We’re floating again in uncertainty, in a million questions unanswered.

This second coming of the virus, coming on the heels of our premature celebration, can be especially destabilizing.

So, how do we land?

Beyond the obvious—like getting vaccinated and taking all health precautions—we must tend to our spiritual and emotional health. As I was discussing all this with a friend over Shabbat, he brought up one of the world’s most essential books: “Man’s Search for Meaning,” by Victor Frankl.

Indeed, searching for meaning may be our best medicine. As we are spinning again in a state of high anxiety, we need radical grounding, and nothing grounds us like meaning.

Searching for meaning may be our best medicine. As we are spinning again in a state of high anxiety, we need radical grounding, and nothing grounds us like meaning.

Meaning is personal. We can search for it in our friendships, our families, our traditions, in nature, in God, in charity work, in creativity, in relieving someone’s loneliness, in love. We won’t find it watching CNN or Fox or obsessing over things we can’t control. This is a time to make space for what we can control—the deep and the meaningful.

Whatever is meaningful is rock solid. We can count on it. We don’t fear the unknown, but lean on the known. There is no anxiety where meaning lives– there is only the certainty of what we care about the most.