370: Viktor Frankl on the pandemic
Many people are looking to return to something they can call normal since the pandemic undid their earlier normal. In the meantime they struggle.
Almost everyone I know knows Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. I don’t know what they think the book applies to, but it applies to exactly this situation. I’ll give the perfectly relevant quote here and elaborate in the episode:
We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.
When we are no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves.
Again, in the episode, I’ll explain how this quote applies to our situation today, if you don’t find it obvious already.