Making meaning!

We can make meaning in more than one way

I have been reading Viktor Frankl’s, Man's Search for Meaning, written in 1945 (in 9 days!) which describe his experiences in surviving Auschwitz and what longer-term learnings he developed from it.

He believed that a person could lose everything but provided their life had meaning they could rise above these losses.  It is up to each of us to determine what gives meaning to our lives, in his view.  Frankl also observed that it may be psychologically damaging when a person's search for meaning is blocked.

According to Frankl, "We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering."

These three pathways match a human’s three innate drives for competence, connection and autonomy.

Viktor Frankl - Mans-Search-For-Meaning

Our education systems were designed with a focus on building competence in young people through engaging them in schoolwork.  Connection – although this has changed somewhat over time – was kept at a superficial level and autonomy was curbed where it attempted to show itself.  This latter has also shifted over time, with a proportion of educators striving to empower their students today.

If schoolwork no longer holds sufficient meaning for students – and for many it doesn’t – then it means we need to find new ways to help students have meaning in life – through connection or through autonomy.  Both of these capabilities are developed and supported through relationships.

Whichever way we look at it, something must change at the system level.

The Red Brain Blue Brain Reading Club is live and in week 7.  Download a copy of the ebook and follow a loosely structured 9-week process to get to grips with managing your red brain.  You can join at any time.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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