Life IS hard, hence you're "Crying in the Break Room," I gather. I can only imagine how many tears you generated doing research on social media during the pandemic!

You raise an important question, at least for me: are the arts, history, culture just ornaments for a prettified life, or are they something more essential to a meaningful life? Many know Socrates' statement from the Apology, that "an unexamined life is not worth living" (or as he says, it's οὐ βιωτός ἀνθρώπῳ, "not livable for a human, no kind of human life"). But many seem to be living just fine without much examination of themselves or anything else.

There are many sources of meaning in the world: family, community, faith can all provide frameworks of meaning that do not require examination or beauty. But the more fragmented and individual we become, I tend to find some grounding in the liberal arts. I see that humans have been asking some of the same questions for millenia, and some of their answers millenia ago still make sense to me. That explains a little of the connection between the words humanities and humane.

Good luck with adulting, my friend, and may your life have as much meaning and beauty as you can fit into it. Thanks for reading and responding. I appreciate you.