I have always been an avid reader of fiction.So, one of the things that I decided to do during this lockdown is read more non-fiction. And I came across this while reading the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl, where he quotes his favourite author, Fyodor Dostoevsky.
“Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.”
Victor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, and a Holocaust survivor, of Theresienstadt, Auschwitz. He was the founder of logotherapy (literally "healing through meaning") a meaning-centred school of psychotherapy. During his time in the concentration camp he assisted in the psychotherapy of the residents. If you are aware of the history of Holocaust, the Jews lost their homes and belongings. The once prosperous people were reduced to prisoners, they were separated from their loved one, while some sought shelter in German households risking their lives, most were sent to these concentration camps. The lives they had were far from what they had lived or dreamt about. Stripped of dignity and the most basic necessities, they lived each every day hoping someday they will escape these dreadful camps and be united with their family and friends. Frankl had people coming to him asking for advice, how to survive when they have lost everything? How to not be affected by the despair the have been forced into and the depravity of the Nazis who stole their lives ? He said that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find a meaning in life. For him it was the love for his wife.
When the news of Coronavirus becoming a pandemic reached us and all countries slowly started going into lockdown, people around me started panicking. Even I was. I thought of not seeing my friends, my father’s an essential worker, I was worried about his safety, my sister lives in the USA and people around her were dying every day. We were complaining a lot about missing out on the parties, clubbing and outings. Weddings were cancelled, shopping malls and cinemas started closing. And of course, various conspiracy theories about China waging a bio-war against the whole world started circulating in social media.
Frankl’s words resonated through these difficult times. Life offers you purpose and meaning; it does not owe you a sense of fulfilment or happiness. The three ways we can find meaning are learning to adopt towards an unavoidable suffering, learning to love something or someone and accomplishing short term goals; it might be something as simple as cleaning your wardrobe. His words inspired thousands of Holocaust survivors. Instead of breaking down, they accepted their circumstances and went on with their lives.
So, what happens if this is a war? I imagined the worst possible scenario; suppose we have to stay under lockdown for the next 5 years. What if there is no cure? We see apocalypses in movies like the “Quiet Place”. No one from my generation has ever seen a war. May be this is the test of our resilience, unity and solidarity as a species.
One month down the lockdown, I started noticing less complaints. I saw a change in our attitude.
I saw people around me helping the community though various selfless acts. They were volunteering and donating generously. I saw doctors being treated with respect, science becoming our faith, technology becoming our hope. People stopped going to public places and they tried their best to adjust to the new way of living through various activities. People learned to love what they have been gifted with.
I myself got involved in charity and volunteering with several NGOs, I decided to find some time teaching children from underprivileged families, started painting, practising music and learned to cook different cuisines.
I saw people talking more about mental illness. This has always been a taboo, but in the absence of a normal life, people started encountering depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Shrinks started giving online therapy sessions, parents started becoming more aware of their children’s mental health issues, organizations came forward to talk about mental health. I saw people embracing differences and becoming less judgemental. We started thinking more about the environment which we have forsaken for such a long time. We stopped thinking about what we can’t change but what we can. And slowly, together we built a brave new world.
In the end, it’s our collective will to become better people which kept us going in these unprecedented times. Human life is ephemeral and filled with uncertainties, but as long as we have a meaning, we can always survive.
Now that the lockdown has been lifted,do you feel you have finally found a meaning in life?
No comments:
Post a Comment