A book that I am reading at present proposes that asking the meaning of life is akin to asking a chess master what "the best chess move is". Which is to say, there is no singular answer and, each individual's answer is so specific to the alignment of the multiple contexts in which he finds himself.
Am I searching for the meaning of life? No.
Am I reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl because I was on the waitlist for months and it was, at last, my turn? Yes.
Not quite the beach read material that the season whispers, but fascinating nonetheless.
[In case one is unfamiliar, Frankl was a psychiatrist, philosopher, survivor of the Shoah, and founder of Logotherapy. (If Freud was "will to pleasure", Logotherapy is "will to meaning". Existential/humanistic at root.)]
Something I'm thinking about is this tactic/idea he talks about in the book known as Paradoxical Intention, where a person is able to overcome a behavior they would like to change by aiming to desire the very thing they wrestle with or fear. So, for example, in the book he describes a person who sweats a ton when they are nervous. Instead of "trying not to sweat", he instructs the person when faced with a situation that may make them nervous to, instead, think along the lines of "Normally I sweat a quart of perspiration. I'm going to try and sweat three quarts of perspiration tonight!" Evidently, it somehow overrides something and the person no longer sweats. He offers examples of this being effective with OCD handwashing, fear of sleeplessness that ends up causing sleeplessness...all sorts of things.
It's a bit of a mind-bend to imagine. Simultaneously, it makes me curious to attempt. I'll have to think on what I could use it for.
What would you use it for?
Let's do it and report back.
**
In other news, this week I'll be in art fag high heaven. There is an event for sound nerds that will take place within a room set up with high-fidelity multi-channel system that are constructed for immersive, spatial audio experiences and I can't wait. I will report back but, some of the concepts behind the pieces are so nerdilicious that I may look into the option of just living out the rest of my life in the room with the performances on repeat.
be well; be loved,
k.
P.S. For the past two weeks, if I hit any level of low motivation, I have had Diljit Dosanjh's most recent album on repeat and all motivation skyrockets. (Yes, the song Morni in particular, as I'm sure is obvious.) If you're feeling low inspiration, check it out.
[image credit: André Kertész]
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