It’s no surprise that so many people are feeling bad through the isolation -- not just worried for themselves or their loved ones, but more deeply, feeling a kind of meaninglessness. Heidegger talked about two sorts of things that are distinctive of our being human, and that give our lives the only kind of meaning we can hope for: One is our projects — the things we care about, work toward, are engaged in — and the other is our being with others. The pandemic, and the isolation it has brought, has cut most of us off from our projects — whether it’s baking cakes for weddings, teaching first-graders or cheering on the Rays. And it’s cut us off from much of our normal ways of being with other people.

¶ 7:20 AM