Meaning often appears afterward because living something and understanding it happen at different speeds.

You live at the speed of events and understand at a much slower one. That mismatch is why the significance of a period usually shows up years later, once you have the perspective that was structurally unavailable while it was happening. It is not a failure of attention.

Stop demanding that experiences make sense immediately. Keep some record, however rough, so that later understanding has something to work with. The meaning will arrive on its own schedule, and it usually does arrive.