It is like how we feel when a setback in a cherished project deflates us or a thoughtless comment gets us down. The larger meaning of the lost item of value could be that it is the jewel of the soul, which in many lives goes missing until thorough searching finds it again. Loss of soul is more subtle than the loss of a prized object. When we devote too much of our attention to practical concerns, the deeper regions of the inner life turn to wasteland. Like in the landscape in the grail stories, the generative energy of creativity languishes.
Nothing can grow in such neglected soil.
We must search for the missing element. It is usually a lack of investment in that which the soul values. The searching can be in the form of devotional practice. The way we look at stories is a clue to how to search for soul. The exploration plays on the meanings of words like worth, value, face, lost, and found.