Books I Love

 “…happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.”

 “...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.”

These are just a couple of the most meaningful lines from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning that changed my life.

First published in 1946, Man’s Search for Meaning is consistently a #1 Bestseller on Amazon today, having sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages by the time of the author’s death in 1997.  It is counted as one of the most influential books in America. It changed my life when I first read it in the late 1990’s, and I am excited to discuss it with all of you this summer.

Join me July 19, 26 and August 2 at 7:30 pm ET via Zoom for discussions on:

•  Frankl’s observations on life’s meaning as a Nazi camp prisoner;

• The significance of being able to “step back” from life’s painful moments for an enlarged perspective;

• How to find meaning (and even love) in personal (and worldly) human suffering.

Details

Participants should read and have available a post-1962 edition of Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. I will be using the Third Edition published October 23, 1984, but any version that includes both “Part 1: Experiences in a Concentration Camp” and “Part 2: Logotherapy in a Nutshell “will be adequate and sufficient for our discussions.

Each session will be 60 minutes long and start promptly at 7:30 pm ET three Wednesdays this summer: July 19, July 26 and August 2.

This book study is open to:

• Seekers of deeper life meaning in and outside of human suffering;

• People willing to open their mind to different ideas and perspectives;

• People who see or want to see others as connected to each other in our common human condition.

Discussion Format

Each session will open with thoughts and questions to help frame the session’s focus and relate to awareness of our life at any particular moment, how to accept with grace and love our current situation, and how we can live each moment with a greater life perspective.

This will be followed with small breakout group discussions on these questions as they relate to a particular section of the book.

We will end with a broader acknowledgement of “Aha” moments and takeaways from the discussion.

Notes:

• This study is meant as a thought-provoking and open discussion opportunity for participants to consider horrific and brutal experiences that humans suffer and relate them to meaning in their own lives today.

• This will NOT be a debate on the merits or truths of Frankl’s writing or religion and religious beliefs, although such topics may arise for consideration naturally from the discussions.

• This study will NOT reflect on any controversy surrounding Frankl’s viewpoint of holocaust survivors, the holocaust itself or suggestions he was in collaboration with the Nazi’s.