E. Man 's Search For Meaning

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iktor E. Man 's Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon, 2006. Print.

a. What ideas and insights of the author did you find to be the most profound and why?
b. How would you best describe the ethical core of the author? Cite evidence of that from the book.
c. In what ways did you allow the text to speak into your personal and professional life? How can the text contribute to your life? What changes, if any, would you like to make in your personal ethical framework as a result of having read the text?
d. What questions does the text inspire you to consider?
There is a sort of serendipity that I have been assigned to read this book at this particular time in my life. I say this for multiple reasons, the most important of which is the fact that my ex-husband has just recently received the crippling diagnosis of leukemia and is receiving treatment now for bone marrow cancer. Reading Man’s Search for Meaning was perhaps a salve for my breaking heart, but also a gut-wrenching reminder that life and its so-called ‘meaning’ are ephemeral.
Interestingly enough, I wonder how I got to this point in my life and have never been introduced to this book? Viktor Frankl’s autobiographical account of his life in the most desperate of times is a story of optimism in the truest sense of the word. This brave man was able to explore his meaning of life in the depths of personal despair. I am not doing a book review, and it is not my intention to do a summary of ones man’s account of the desolation that forever changed him. It is my intention to reflect on how this text inspired me, excited me, horrified me, and touched the recesses of my soul. I am reminded, again and again as I make my way through this book to “Live as if you were liv...

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...ing his story with all who read his words. He also bears his soul and gives readers the opportunity to see in a transparent way how he actively and intentionally manifested his attitude; in the most difficult of times he put on a brave face and acted genuinely with the environment, as well as with others.
In summary, my ex-husbands experience with cancer has made me question my own meaning of life. My self-imposed questions to find my personal meaning have changed since reading Man’s Search for Meaning and I have been more introspective and reflective about the many ways in which I get positive feedback in my own life. I believe that the search for meaning is a dynamic process that changes moment by moment. The point being made is to examine those moments. I will forward this book on to my friend living with cancer in hopes the text will help him find his meaning.

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