by KC Kelly, Ph.D., LMHC

www.DOCintheBiz.com

Many a day, I have spent hours sitting on the floor in the philosophy section of used book stores, reading some of the most magnificent works of art written. The smell of old books is joyful. The idea that the books I love so dearly are approximately an average of two dollars each is unbelievable being that the material inside those books is priceless. Anything that can change a life for the better is indeed, priceless. I have three copies on my book shelf of one of the most significant and popular books about Existentialism ever written: “Man’s Search for Meaning” by the amazing Father of Existentialism, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl.

How I wish that he was still alive when I was researching his life and his philosophies in order to write my dissertation on existential analysis, a topic that just didn’t make it to the final cut due to its complexity. However, the hours spent reading and learning were something I don’t regret. I learned a whole new epistemology in which I live my life. After “meeting” the works of Dr. Frankl, I quickly became proud to call myself a post-modern Existentialist. All thanks to a man that passed on before I was able to meet him. And believe me, I would have tried.

Dr. Viktor E. Frankl lived through the horrific experiences of the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. Through his agony, this hero never stopped attempting to help many others in the camps to survive the horrid conditions and dehumanizing abuse imposed upon these prisoners. They were starved and worked naked in the snow and freezing temperatures. They were beaten, tortured, and lived with the fear of impending death by gas at any moment. The conditions in which these people were forced to live were ghastly, dreadful, and unspeakable. Through his great will, beliefs, and ideas that the mind is the strongest force which one can control through his/her own consciousness given the desire and aspiration to do so, Frankl himself survived. It was his will to survive; his belief that one day he would be reunited with his wife and unborn child (who were immediately taken and killed) that helped him through his daily torment. The music that he could hear in his mind, the beauty that he could find in the sunset, the beliefs he held onto were “things” that no one, no matter what, could take away from him. Dr. Viktor E. Frankl reached liberation! Given the worse circumstances imaginable, he survived. In his writings, Dr. Frankl borrowed the brilliant words of Neitzsche, who said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

We can probably all agree that if you are alive, you are going to find yourself in controversy, in pain, and in suffering at some point or another. The discourse may not be as horrific as the unspeakable horror of living in a concentration camp, but it is suffering none-the-less. After all, suffering is relative. The point is, that it is imperative that one finds meaning in existence and in suffering. That is what Dr. Frankl contributed to the world of psychology.

Go ahead, I challenge you to read, “Man’s Search for Meaning” and not shed a tear, not feel hatred for the disgust that mankind can impose upon each other, and not cheer when our hero reaches liberation. Dr. Frankl teaches how to love unconditionally. He teaches how the human spirit has strengths deeper than one could ever believe or imagine having. He is living proof that a person can have everything and everyone stripped away from him/her and still understand that the most important thing that could not be taken away is belief, faith, love. With these in tact, one can survive anything, says Dr. Frankl. To quote this great hero, who believes that we all have the freedom of spirit and faith, “It is this spiritual freedom which can not be taken away that makes life meaningful and purposeful.” He also stated, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” We are each responsible for finding our own meaning to our existence and to our suffering. We cannot put that responsibility onto anyone but ourselves. For to do so would not only bring about someone else’s perception leading to THEIR answer to what we are trying to discover, but also unfair.

Dr. Viktor E. Frankl has written many books and I own every one of them. They are in “loved” condition right from the shelves of bookstores where people place what they consider trash into the hands of what others consider treasure. The works of Dr. Frankl are my treasures…along with the meaning that I find in MY life and what helps me to be the kind of therapist and person I am.

Here are just some amazing titles from an incredible psychiatrist, who gave so much to the movement of his time and still gives today.

Man’s Search for Meaning

Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning

The Unheard Cry for Meaning

The Will to Meaning

The Unconscious God

Psychotherapy and Existentialism

Thank you for reading about my hero. Who is your hero?

Dr. KC

www.DOCintheBiz.com

www.GLCzone.com

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