“Hat man sein warum des Lebens, so verträgt man sich fast mit jedem wie” “If we have our own why in life, we shall get along with almost any how.”  Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, “Maxims and Arrows,” §12. 

Less than a year after he was liberated from Auschwitz where his mother was killed, having lost his father at the concentration camp Theresienstadt already and his wife at Bergen-Belsen, psychologist Victor Frankl gave a series of public lectures in Vienna. He discussed his ideas about meaning, resilience, and the importance of embracing life even in the face of great adversity, paraphrasing the Nietzsche quote above as: “Whoever has a why to live can bear almost any how.”  The lectures are now published in English, Yes to Life. In Spite of Everything, as a companion to his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning.

Here is the foreword to the new book, written by psychologist and emotional intelligence researcher Daniel Goleman, who provides a succinct and moving introduction to Frankl’s work.

Frankl eventually developed a psychotherapeutic approach, Logotherapy, often called the third Vienna School, Freud and Adler being the first giants in this trio, that tried to help patients find meaning. He was convinced that the search for meaning is our primary impulse as humans, and that those who could maintain a purpose in life would have a better chance at survival, as observed during his time in the camps.

Independent of whether I agree with these beliefs or not, I do find two thoughts derived from Frankl very helpful. One ist the fact that crisis always contains opportunity. It might not feel that way in the moment, but it can be extracted over time. The second insight was about what exactly can provide meaning or purpose – you need not reinvent the wheel, save a nation singlehandedly, or win the Nobel Prize.

In the linked interview below (ignore the inane title, self- actualization is discussed in a different context) he offers options to find purpose. To fill the void, a void that can be described as apathy, lack of interest, boredom, emptiness, or ultimately despair, we can latch onto one or more of three values: creative values, experiential values and attitudinal values. The first one refers to finding purpose through doing your work, creating something. Contributing your part, whether you clean the streets or improve pharmacological research, is the key.

The second relates to experiencing beauty, or truth or good, giving value to the world that surrounds you, relates to you. You do not have to achieve or accomplish something – value can be found in appreciation of something, whether nature or art. More importantly, we can experience another human being by loving, focussing on their uniqueness, their essence and their potential, and being loved in return.

The third points to your choice of attitude. If you have lost the capacity to do your work and there is no room for experiencing something positive, you have a choice how you react to suffering or tragedy. It is about who you are rather than what you possess, and what attitudinal approach you choose from a multitude of options. Your bend towards courage, dignity and determination can provide purpose.

I would not bring these thoughts to a person who is in the middle of an existential crisis – it would be patronizing at best and cruel at worst. But I hold these thoughts up to those of us who are affected in less life-threatening ways, reminding us that there is the choice of courage and dignity, even if we are unable to provide solace through action.

Music today was composed by Victor Ullman who was killed in Asuchwitz two days after his arrival in October 1944, after having been interned in Theresienstadt before where he continued to devote himself to create music.

Photographs provide experiential value from the beauty of yesterday’s visitor to my butterfly bush.