This topic sounds something between a heavy philosophical tome and Monty Python.
Victor Frankl wrote on this topic extensively following WWII. He started a following of people who felt that this was a very important aspect of life and cause of mental illness called logotherapy. His book, Man's search for meaning, (1946 in the original title and in German) was followed by The Will to Meaning (1988). He died in 1997.
His work started from Vienna in Freud's circle but he was placed in a number of concentration camps during the war. He was bound for America to escape but on the morning of his departure he was torn between staying with his elderly parents and leaving for a new future. he saw the words, Honour thy father and thy mother and so decided to stay with them. During his many years in the concentration camp, as a psychiatrist, he tried to help his fellow inmates. He also studied the human mind under such oppressive conditions. His books make sobering reading. He came to the existentialist position that to survive this, and normal life, you had to create a meaning for your existence. Poor self esteem, lack of self confidence, subsequent abuse of drugs and alcohol, depression, nihilism and suicide all stem from a lack of understanding your role in the world and the purpose of your life he says.
This seems to me to be very relevant today. We, in a consumerist society have everything we could want and yet we are increasingly unhappy. All this hedonism, individualism, and narcissism has failed to make us complete. It reminds me of the saying Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country ( JF Kennedy 1961).
Search for meaning is about what you can do to make the world a better place, using the skills and talents you have. It sometimes means standing alone and battling to achieve against the odds but it can be in a group and achieving small goals. For some people it is climbing a mountain or sailing around the world, solving world hunger or curing childhood cancer. For most of us it is helping someone else, raising funds for medical research, saying hello to new neighbours and switching off a light to reduce carbon emissions. If you buy a magazine from a homeless person, donate a dollar to a charity, give a dinner to a homeless person, the giving bounces back on you as well, a win / win situation.
I suggest that you think about these goals on a regular basis, update them and work at upholding your personal meaning.
Victor Frankl wrote on this topic extensively following WWII. He started a following of people who felt that this was a very important aspect of life and cause of mental illness called logotherapy. His book, Man's search for meaning, (1946 in the original title and in German) was followed by The Will to Meaning (1988). He died in 1997.
His work started from Vienna in Freud's circle but he was placed in a number of concentration camps during the war. He was bound for America to escape but on the morning of his departure he was torn between staying with his elderly parents and leaving for a new future. he saw the words, Honour thy father and thy mother and so decided to stay with them. During his many years in the concentration camp, as a psychiatrist, he tried to help his fellow inmates. He also studied the human mind under such oppressive conditions. His books make sobering reading. He came to the existentialist position that to survive this, and normal life, you had to create a meaning for your existence. Poor self esteem, lack of self confidence, subsequent abuse of drugs and alcohol, depression, nihilism and suicide all stem from a lack of understanding your role in the world and the purpose of your life he says.
This seems to me to be very relevant today. We, in a consumerist society have everything we could want and yet we are increasingly unhappy. All this hedonism, individualism, and narcissism has failed to make us complete. It reminds me of the saying Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country ( JF Kennedy 1961).
Search for meaning is about what you can do to make the world a better place, using the skills and talents you have. It sometimes means standing alone and battling to achieve against the odds but it can be in a group and achieving small goals. For some people it is climbing a mountain or sailing around the world, solving world hunger or curing childhood cancer. For most of us it is helping someone else, raising funds for medical research, saying hello to new neighbours and switching off a light to reduce carbon emissions. If you buy a magazine from a homeless person, donate a dollar to a charity, give a dinner to a homeless person, the giving bounces back on you as well, a win / win situation.
I suggest that you think about these goals on a regular basis, update them and work at upholding your personal meaning.
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