Why can't I appreciate my own life?

I am young, today I turn 23, and my life is fast. I am a research student where my work is enjoyable, changing constantly and so invoking that I lose myself in it. My friends are family are fairly supportive, money is not a huge issue and I am in good health. Even though things appear good, a life-situation that I would think is ideal, does not feel ideal, in fact it feels as empty and unforgiving as a bad life-situation. Commonly I feel as though I am not living. When I am consumed by my research projects I am defiantly not self aware. When I am not doing research, I feel a dread that I am currently not *awake*, and that I am almost never *awake*. The only times I feel truly awake is in deep sadness; sometimes the sadness has no cause it is just weltschmerz . Do other people feel this? Is this what being young feels like; if so, does it go away? Would Buddhism or meditation make me feel wholesome rather than empty in moments of reflection? Is this okay to feel?