When Life Feels Empty and Without Meaning: Are You Ready to Begin the Soul’s Epic Journey?

When you begin to feel that your life lacks substance, that you are rushing through the days without feeling alive, a quiet but powerful question can arise: Is this really all there is? The invitation here is to go deeper: to explore the cycles of life, and to consider how you can move on into something greater than achievement and material success. This is the start of the Soul’s Epic Journey, a journey in which you are no longer a passive participant in your own life, but the active creator of your own path.

We will look at the great cycles that shape our lives: why we go through them, what they want to teach us, and how we can take the first step into the most important journey of them all, the Soul’s Epic Journey.

It is a strange paradox that many of us only begin to sense what really matters in life when our time is drawing to a close. When the noise of everyday life falls silent and everything superficial falls away, we suddenly stand face to face with what is essential.

A mother of two who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer, was told by her oncologist that she had one month left to live. In an interview with a daily newspaper, she describes her experience like this¹:

It is a strange paradox that many of us only begin to sense what really matters in life when our time is drawing to a close.

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“The birds are chirping cheerfully in the bushes. Before, I didn’t notice things like that. There is something about the relentless drive of everyday life. Life in the hamster wheel, if you like. Obligations here, obligations there. Never standing still. Always on the move. But now it’s different. Now it’s as if my awareness lingers on every sensory impression. As if it takes in the world in its true form. Now I walk around smelling plants and trees. Just enjoying what is around me, here and now. Little things like that have become much more important.”

When life boils down to the most basic things, a space of clarity opens up. What we used to rush past suddenly becomes visible. What was noise becomes silence. And in this silence, in this close contact with the moment, the Soul’s Epic Journey often begins in earnest.

The torment of the hamster wheel

It is one of the great tragedies of our time that we live in the most materially prosperous period in human history, while more people than ever struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. The figures are staggering: mental disorders cost society between 280 and 290 billion Norwegian kroner every single year (Norwegian Directorate of Health, 2019), and depression tops the list as the most burdensome disorder. And these figures only cover those who actually receive a diagnosis. The large, hidden number of people who struggle in silence is without doubt enormous.

How can it be that so many people in a rich, safe, and modern Norway experience low mood, emptiness, discouragement, and a lack of meaning?

It is one of the great tragedies of our time that we live in the most materially prosperous period in human history, while more people than ever struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.

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An important part of the answer lies in the culture we live in. From every side, we are met with expectations that we should master everything. Work. Career. Finances. Relationships. Social media. Leisure. Studies. Grades. Body. Exercise. Health.

The list never ends, and the pace is merciless.

Many feel that there is no real alternative to this endless chase after achievement, improvement, and perfection. It is as if we have collectively accepted that this is life: an unstoppable hamster wheel we have to keep running in, no matter how worn out we become.

And at the same time, we live in a world that is entirely dependent on our remaining willing consumers. Society is set up to lure us toward ever newer, finer, and “better” things. We are bombarded with the message that happiness can be bought, that status gives worth, and that success is measured in material wealth and outward achievements.

The result?

A population that gets everything except what it truly longs for: peace, meaning, belonging, closeness, and a life that feels real.

International research projects

Large international research projects clearly show that many of us are chasing something that creates neither happiness nor meaning. A good example is a survey of millennials, people born between 1980 and 1995, cited by the Harvard researcher Robert Waldinger². When the researchers asked what their most important life goal was, 80 percent said they wanted to become rich, and 50 percent that they dreamed of becoming famous.

This awakened a deeper curiosity in the researchers:

What is it, really, that makes a person happy and healthy throughout life, and not only in passing moments?

As early as 1938, researchers at Harvard started The Harvard Study of Adult Development³⁴², one of the world’s longest-running research projects. The study has followed a group of people from the age of 19 all the way into old age. Every other year, they have gone through interviews, medical examinations, blood tests, and psychological assessments. More than 80 years of data give an exceptionally clear answer.

The main conclusions are these:

• Neither money, career, hard work, nor fame creates a happy and good life.
• Good, secure relationships, with a partner, family, and friends, are the most important factor of all for both happiness and good health.
• Loneliness kills. It is one of the strongest drivers of poor health, mental illness, and a feeling of inner emptiness.

Against this backdrop, it is less surprising that depression, anxiety, and chronic health problems are increasing all over the world. Many of us spend our lives chasing precisely what does not create lasting meaning, while neglecting what actually matters.

The path to a meaningful life

What gives life meaning is one of the deepest questions a human being can ask, and there is no universal answer that fits everyone. But from a shamanic perspective, there is a clear road map: the path to a meaningful life goes through understanding more of our true nature, and then living that truth out in our perfectly ordinary, everyday actions.

When we look at indigenous peoples who have lived without the dogmas, moralizing norms, and modern lifestyle of Western societies, we get a clear insight into what a balanced human life can involve. In such cultures, depression, anxiety, and chronic illness are rare.

Why?

Because they still live in harmony with nature, and with nature’s rhythms.

There, a natural balance exists between activity and rest. Life follows the seasons: the calm of winter, the growth of spring, the intensity of summer, and the reflection of autumn. Relationships are the glue that holds everything together. The tribe, the family, and the community form the foundation of safety and belonging. And nature is a teacher as well as a resource: a place where people find food, counsel, wisdom, and perspective.

This stands in sharp contrast to our modern culture, where nature’s rhythms have gradually been erased. We live in constant activity, around the clock, because technology makes it possible, and because we often chase goals that have no roots in our true nature. Many of these goals have little to do with why we are actually here, or with what gives us real meaning.

Why we are out of rhythm

Our human existence consists of three equal parts:

the physical body, the mind (thoughts and feelings), and the soul itself, our existential life.

In today’s modern society, only the first two have been allowed to take up space. Nearly all our energy and attention go to understanding, improving, and developing the body and the brain. We celebrate people with a perfect body, and we let ourselves be fascinated and led by those we perceive as “smart,” often those with high academic status.

But in this worship of body and intellect, we have overlooked something completely fundamental: the existential part of us, the soul.

The part that gives life direction, meaning, and depth.

The part that shows us why we are here.

When we bake bread, we know that the dough usually needs three main ingredients: water, flour, and yeast.

If we leave out one of them, the whole result collapses.

We humans work in exactly the same way.

When we do not make room for all three sides of our existence, the body, the mind, and the soul, we lose our balance. It becomes almost impossible to experience deep inner peace, belonging, and real fulfillment.

And we can see the consequences clearly all around us:

• an explosive increase in chronic illness and exhaustion
• more depression, anxiety, and inner restlessness than ever before
• a spreading sense of meaninglessness and emptiness

That is the price we pay when we live a life based on only two-thirds of who we really are, stuck in the rhythm of the hamster wheel, out of touch with the soul’s needs and nature’s wisdom.

The cycles of life and the midlife crisis

When we look at nature, we discover that everything follows rhythms and cycles. The earth rotates, the seasons change, day slides into night, and the moon waxes and wanes. Nature’s movements are also reflected in us humans: in our development, in our needs, and in our inner journey through life.

The largest and most fundamental cycle begins with our first breath and ends with our last. The time in between can be divided up in many ways, and one of the most meaningful is to see life as a series of seven-year cycles, in which each segment has its own challenges, opportunities, and stages of maturity:

• 0–14 years: birth, childhood, and the foundation for life
• 14–21 years: puberty and the forming of identity
• 21–28 years: career orientation and getting established
• 28–35 years: life’s “rush hour,” with children, responsibility, and career
• 35–42 years: further establishment in work, family, and society
• 42–56 years: the transition phase, often associated with what we call the midlife crisis

What happens next, from this transition period until the end of life, is shaped by the choices we make precisely in this phase.

The two red dots in figure 1 mark birth and death, the only fixed points in our material existence. Everything between them is a journey we shape ourselves through choices, experiences, and insight.

When the soul enters this life, it leaves a state without time and space and steps into a world of limitations. For the soul, it can feel like putting on a tight straitjacket: an existence in which it loses direct contact with its true nature and its resources. But it is precisely through these limitations that the soul can experience what it came to learn.

At the same time, we all carry a quiet longing, an inner voice that whispers about who we really are and where we come from. For many, this voice grows stronger after the age of 40. Suddenly, life is not as satisfying as it used to be. Something feels empty, unbalanced, or meaningless, even for those who have “everything”: family, career, security, and material abundance.

We often call this feeling a midlife crisis. But from a shamanic perspective, it is not a crisis. It is a call.

A sign that the soul is knocking at the door, asking you to wake up, listen, and set out on the next part of the journey: the Soul’s Epic Journey.

This does not mean leaving life as you know it, but finding your way back to the deep meaning you lost sight of in the pace of everyday life. Asking yourself: “What is really important to me?”

When this question awakens in us, a whole new cycle starts. And it is right here that the most decisive part of our journey begins: turning inward and rediscovering who we are behind roles, expectations, and achievements.

The transition toward the existential life

The transition phase in figure 1, often between the ages of 42 and 56, although it can come both earlier and later, marks a time when something deep within us begins to stir. It is as if the part of us that has been forgotten, pushed aside, or left in the shadows for much of our life finally rises up and demands to be heard. The voice is stronger now, more insistent: a longing that can no longer be ignored.

What is calling us is the soul, the existential part of ourselves that never dies. It has always been there, but in the transition phase, it begins to call out louder. Many experience this as a sudden and intense pull toward the mystical, the unknown, the spiritual. Suddenly, esoteric books, talks, podcasts, and seminars become irresistibly interesting. You search, ask, and explore, as if an inner door is about to open.

However this phase shows itself, the voice points to the same thing: a transition, a reorientation, and a deeper contact with our existential nature, our true, immortal essence. When we listen to the voice and give it room, something unusual happens. Many experience a completely new sense of meaning, inner peace, and contentment. Life gains depth, direction, and a different kind of clarity.

What is calling us is the soul, the existential part of ourselves that never dies.

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But when we ignore the call, the opposite often happens. An inner pressure builds up: a feeling of emptiness, numbness, a lack of enthusiasm, or a kind of quiet despair. It is the soul’s way of showing us that we are out of step with something important.

Tragically, many people do not dare to listen to this voice. Only when death draws near do they understand what they missed, when the time to explore the most important part of life is gone.

The Soul’s Epic Journey

It is up to each of us whether we choose to begin, and truly experience, the Soul’s Epic Journey in this life. The journey is marked by a deep and far-reaching reorientation, in which all three parts of our existence finally receive the attention they deserve: the body, the mind (thoughts and feelings), and the soul, our existential life.

In figure 1, the beginning of the journey is marked with green dots. Some people start early, almost as if they sense intuitively that life holds something more. Others enter the journey in the middle of the transition phase between 42 and 56, when life is crying out for change. Some only begin late in life, when the passage of time becomes more visible. And many, far too many, never start at all.

My own epic journey began much earlier than I would have wished. When I was 35 years old, I became so severely burned out that I nearly lost my life. It was a brutal turning point, a total collapse that forced me to question everything I thought I knew about life, meaning, and myself.

The journey I was sent out on, reluctant and unprepared, has turned out to be the most significant, instructive, and rewarding journey of my life.

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But in this darkness also lay the beginning of something deep and life-changing. The crisis opened the door to a new direction: toward understanding what life is really about, and what vision the soul carries with it into each incarnation. This opening led me into the world of the shaman, a mystical, beautiful, and rich tradition where the great questions are both asked and answered.

The journey I was sent out on, reluctant and unprepared, has turned out to be the most significant, instructive, and rewarding journey of my life. And it is open to everyone, absolutely everyone, who dares to listen within and follow the call when it comes.

Power Animal Hummingbird: the guide to the Soul’s Epic Journey

A shamanic power animal is a kind of being of light, or angel, that appears to us in the form of an animal when we look with our inner eye. It carries many of the same qualities and traits that the animal has in the physical world, but on a far deeper, more intuitive level. Power Animal Hummingbird has been with you since the day you came into this world. Its task is clear: to help you find, welcome, and live out your soul’s Epic Journey in this life.

The hummingbird is a truly unusual bird. Every spring and autumn, it sets out on an almost unbelievable migration from Central and South America, from places such as Mexico and Brazil, all the way up to Canada. This tiny creature, which often weighs less than a Norwegian five-krone coin, can fly more than 800 kilometers without landing, straight across the Gulf of Mexico, and its heart can beat as many as 1,260 times a minute. The hummingbird is nature’s living symbol of endurance, courage, and boundless life force.

Some of the traits and gifts that Power Animal Hummingbird brings with it:

The Hummingbird’s wisdom and energy:

• The Hummingbird’s energy supports people who are ready to begin their Epic Journey. It awakens the courage, the spark, and the call to go deeper into your true mission.
• The Hummingbird teaches us that growth is part of our nature. Our soul is made for development, from birth to death. Stagnation is painful, but growth creates meaning.
• The Hummingbird helps us live out our Epic Journey even when life challenges us. It reminds us that difficulties do not stop the journey; they are part of it.
• The Hummingbird gives us COURAGE. It supports us in taking steps we would otherwise shy away from, especially when the soul longs for change.
• The Hummingbird’s wisdom is crucial for finding our true nature and our existential calling. It points us back to what we have always been, and to what we came here to express.

The Hummingbird’s qualities, and what they teach us:

• Exceptional endurance. The journey does not stop until the goal is reached.
• A vibrant life force, joy, and delight, which reminds us to find the joy of life in small moments too.
• Flexibility, agility, and a willingness to change. Life is not about waiting for perfect circumstances.
• Variety and breadth, the opposite of autopilot, and the very fuel of growth.
• Natural curiosity. Exploring new inner territories is part of the journey.
• Speed, energy, and efficiency, a reminder that small steps can also take us far.
• The hummingbird is as important as butterflies and bees for pollinating plants.
• And above all: size means nothing. Even when you feel small and insignificant, you carry an enormous power within you.
• The hummingbird can slow its metabolism and go into torpor when there is not enough food. It reminds you that rest is necessary too.

When we ignore the Hummingbird’s call

After the transition phase in life, typically ages 42–56, the Hummingbird’s voice grows stronger. It calls us into a new phase, from a purely material orientation to deeper existential growth.

If we choose to ignore the call, something serious happens: the soul’s energy begins to withdraw. It marks the start of the incarnation’s yin process, an inner withering, a decline of the soul. This happens every time we choose comfort over development, or when we compromise the soul’s longing for growth.

When we listen, we live

If, on the other hand, you choose to keep the Hummingbird’s instinct alive through daily curiosity, inner work, stillness, exploration, and a willingness to grow, the opposite happens:

You awaken the Soul’s Epic Journey.

You live it.

You flourish in it.

Are you ready to begin your soul’s Epic Journey?

For many, the warm-up to the Soul’s Epic Journey begins as a quiet curiosity: a wish to understand the esoteric, perhaps a couple of books, some videos, or a seminar that awakens something deep and familiar inside. But the real journey does not begin until you are willing to fundamentally reorient your life, in a way that cannot be achieved by reading a little or attending the occasional course.

The true epic journey requires support, mirroring, and guidance from a competent spiritual teacher who can accompany you through a longer process, in which insights are both understood and lived. To help you on the way, I recommend the article “ABC Guide to Finding Your Spiritual Teacher,” which gives a solid introduction to finding the right mentor for you.

Many of the people who come to me are in exactly this transition phase, where the inner voice keeps growing stronger and the longing for something deeper, truer, and more meaningful can no longer be ignored. In my basic training in shamanism, I personally guide my students through a deep development process lasting 6–8 months, a process that changes you. It is a journey filled with insight, practice, and tools that gradually unite body, mind, and soul.

When you have gone through the process, you are not left with only an intellectual understanding of the soul’s path. You have been given everything you need to live your own Epic Journey fully and completely: with clarity, strength, direction, and a deep, living understanding of your true nature.

Do you want to go deeper? On my blog and in the podcast The Journey to Self-Realization, we explore the topics in this text in more depth. If you want to walk the path yourself, it begins at the Yggdrasil Shamanic School with our free online course on primordial shamanism: Nature’s Path to Freedom and Self-Realization. No path could begin more simply. How far it reaches is up to you.

This content does not replace professional medical help from a doctor or other health professional, and it is not intended as medical treatment. If you are ill, always see a doctor first.

Sources

1. “1 måned igjen å leve” [1 Month Left to Live], Dagbladet, https://www.dagbladet.no/tema/n-maned-igjen-a-leve/76535628. ↩︎
2. Robert Waldinger: “What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness,” TED, https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness. ↩︎
3. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, https://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/. ↩︎
4. “Good genes are nice, but joy is better,” Harvard University, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/. ↩︎