Thanks for bringing this up. Small things can have huge personal significance. I think the article makes sense until it tries to model meaning in an impersonal way; there's a bit of a switcheroo when the author goes from saying meaning is an emotion to saying it is a matter of fact.
I'd say that meaning, as a cognitive emotion, is heavily dependent on what "facts" we hold to be true and what stories we tell ourselves. Most people are not telling themselves stories about the entirety of time and space, so it literally has no impact on their experience of meaning. Death, on the other hand, affects us all; everyone has an attitude towards their own future and eventual death, however unexamined it is. That doesn't mean everyone has the same attitude, though. Some people would like to become immortal above all else, while others are not bothered in the slightest by having a finite lifespan, or believe that their "spirit" is somehow infinite.
It is possible to intellectualize about where meaning comes from in order to bring more into your life, as a kind of therapy; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy
I'd say that meaning, as a cognitive emotion, is heavily dependent on what "facts" we hold to be true and what stories we tell ourselves. Most people are not telling themselves stories about the entirety of time and space, so it literally has no impact on their experience of meaning. Death, on the other hand, affects us all; everyone has an attitude towards their own future and eventual death, however unexamined it is. That doesn't mean everyone has the same attitude, though. Some people would like to become immortal above all else, while others are not bothered in the slightest by having a finite lifespan, or believe that their "spirit" is somehow infinite.
It is possible to intellectualize about where meaning comes from in order to bring more into your life, as a kind of therapy; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy