Sometimes things are diminished in an "Eternal September" fashion, out of an influx of people and ignorance more than anything. Other times, like these examples

Sometimes things are diminished in an "Eternal September" fashion, out of an influx of people and ignorance more than anything. Other times, like these examples, it's a slow gentrification. BTW, thanks for the comment. I like how you tie it to a feeling of emptiness with experience... I've been really making an effort to cut out all the unnecessary junk in my life for a few years, and I've come to a similar conclusion about myself: that it's much more about how subtle feelings of emptiness and lack can "distort" my behavior, and cause a lot of pain and discomfort -- even things that are usually considered extremely positive can become painful. Even with a lot of direct effort to avoid it, I still fall into that trap. All I can do is look at myself and laugh a little!