Thank you for reading the piece, Paul, and for the kindly advice! I actually did recently start doing mindfulness meditation as part of my therapy for my OCD, and I’ve found it very rewarding so far. I still have a lot to learn, of course, but I’d also like to try transcendental and Qigong meditation as well once I have the time.

And can I just say that your description of how I ended up where I am now could not possibly be more accurate. I was raised Catholic, started to move away from it in high school, moved completely away from it by my 20s, and then started investigating and gravitating towards materialism. Over time, though, I became more and more unsatisfied with that as well. As with Catholicism, I felt like materialism was missing something big and important. But as you said, what do you do when you start to feel like neither materialism nor religious faith can adequately explain the nature of existence? It doesn’t seem like you have anywhere else to go once you reach that point, and it starts to feel like you’re just walking in circles (hence the cul-de-sac metaphor in the beginning of my piece).

Admittedly, it’s kind of a frustrating place to be in, but it’s also a little exciting. It’s sort of like a treasure hunt, except I have no idea what I’m going to find when I discover that treasure. It could be awesome. It could be depressing. Or I just might not ever find it. But I’m certainly looking forward to trying. Here’s hoping it turns out well!

Thank you again for commenting, Paul. I really enjoyed reading your perspective on this, and I will most certainly heed your advice. :)