"plagued by apathy"..sounds pretty much like a global pandemic to me. The meaning of life is the meaning one gives it. Therefore, if one's life has no meaning one can understand where the responsibilty and the fault lies in that condition. Or in the words of Confucius, "It is better to light a single candle than to sit and curse the darkness." I like the use of beauty as an escape mechanism but I love the idea of beauty as a plan for one's life. "Maybe if we are surrounded in beauty, some day we will become what we see." Jewel Kilcher from "I'm Sensitive"