Book 168 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: My Search for Meaning!

Book – A Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Book Description:

Man's Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, and then immersively imagining that outcome. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" Part One constitutes Frankl's analysis of his experiences in the concentration camps, while Part Two introduces his ideas of meaning and his theory called logotherapy.

Reflection:

I’m writing this reflection on the morning of April 22cd, 2022 at 4 am in the morning.

Today, marks the second anniversary of the passing of our precious Emilia Quinn Sears. In a little more than an hour from now, she took her last few breaths here on this Earth in her mother’s arms following a marathon 7-hour final kangaroo session in her NICU hospital room after we made the call to extubate her as her suffering had reached a point where we felt it was no longer humane to push forward.

It is hard not to remember and relive these final few hours with Emilia over and over in my mind on this day, or any other day. I can see myself right now on the couch in her hospital room and holding Emilia’s little hand as I sit next to my wife in the recliner clutching Emilia tightly to her chest. It is something I will never forget and something that still gives me chills, in a good way, when I think about it. Emilia was in so much pain. She had endured A LOT, but she would never give up. Emilia’s strength, courage, and the sheer grit and determination she exhumed every day as she fought for a chance in this world is something that I can never forget.

She fought from the day she was born at only 22 weeks old until the last moment she took her final breaths off the ventilator 39 days later. She didn’t ask for this, but she took what was presented to her and she made the most of her chance in this world. Every second of every day…she fought! She fought because life is worth fighting for.

Her Life Had Meaning…Every Life Has Meaning!

For me, Emilia taught me this with how she lived her life and spent her time here on this Earth. She demonstrated to me the beauty of the human experience, she showed me what it can be like to live a life of purpose and meaning in all that she did, she inspired me to want to live a life just like her, and she left me with a trail to chase her for the rest of my days where I can discover my own meaning in this world and bring me peace until the day when we can finally be reunited.

The meaning in my own life that she helped me to discover has brought me immense fulfillment. It is my anchor in everything I do. It is my compass in how I navigate my life. It is how I will spend the rest of my days. It will determine what I do and who I do it with. Most importantly, it is how I stay connected to Emilia and live a life with her every day even when we can’t be physically together in this world.

Viktor Frankl’s concept of logotherapy, which involves the idea of identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, and then immersively imagining that outcome works. That is what I’ve been doing for the past 2 years. Pain and Trauma tried to steal my imagination, but Emilia and I took it back together. Our book, called I Can’t Imagine, is essentially about Emilia helping me to rediscover my own imagination and creating a new world in my mind where we can still be together everyday by living out our values together…just like she taught me. That is what I like to call Living for 2.

Living for 2 is the answer to my search for meaning and the only way that I can make any sense of this life that robbed Emilia and I from a lifetime of memories.

I love you!

Question: How are you leveraging your imagination to create a meaningful life in this world?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - A Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl