מגזין בלוגותרפיה מגזין לוגותרפיה ומשמעות בחיים, פילוסופיה וישום, מאמרים כתבות מחקרים ומידע מאמרים נוספים בתחום
The existential vacuum is an expression that Viktor Frankl used to describe the sense of emptiness and meaninglessness that is so prevalent in the world today. It is natural to question the meaning of our existence. There is nothing pathological about being in an existential vacuum. It is not an emotional or mental problem. It is a spiritual problem. One way to solve the spiritual crisis is to say that regardless of whatever happens, life is intrinsically meaningful, with no conditions attached.
Yet, this is a faith-based answer. How can we explain to those who do not have faith in unconditional meaning that there is a genuine purpose to everything, not just a sense of purpose? To this Frankl says that there is no logical necessity to choose the interpretation of events as arbitrary or meaningful. But we are faced with a decision to choose between them, and since we cannot see the bigger picture, it is not knowledge which decides but faith and commitment.
We need to go deeper. How can we help those who do not believe in unconditional meaning? Furthermore, even people of faith are challenged, because their belief is stuck only on an intellectual level, and they do not experience life as meaningful. How then, can we strengthen the sense and conviction of meaning for ourselves and for others?
There are three options for how to react to the inner sense of meaninglessness.
Escape
Despair
Connection
We have to decide which option we want to choose.
Escape is the reaction that Frankl calls the neurotic triad: depression, addiction and aggression. Depression is an escape into one’s self, feeling everything one does is futile. Addiction is escape into a substance or activity that dulls or excites the senses, so that one no longer feels the pain of the emptiness. Aggression is escape into acting-out the meaninglessness, by expressing the belief that nobody’s life has any value.
Despair leads to escape as well, but it can be a living hell for those who don’t even try to escape and don’t look for a way to find meaning.
The third way is to strengthen our sense of connection to life, which takes us back to the basic question: Am I a separate entity, on my own planet where the world revolves around me, or am I a meaningful part of a meaningful whole? An amazing fact of life is the phenomenon that just by plugging-in and connecting to life we start to feel that our life is connected to something meaningful.
Frankl’s formulation of creative, experiential and attitudinal pathways to meaning form the basis for getting out of the vacuum of meaninglessness. The creative path is expressed through giving to others who need our help and by developing our unique talents. The experiential path is expressed through immersing ourselves in nature or in music, by expressing gratitude and by seeing the good in the world and in ourselves. The attitudinal path is expressed through courage and through learning our unique life lessons. We can add to the list many more things, such as meditation, prayer and self-reflection.
In all of these ways, we build a relationship with something beyond our self, including a relationship with the deepest part of our self. The most important re-frame to get out of the existential vacuum is to see the emptiness we feel inside as a signal to an empty space in the world that is waiting to be filled by me.
Do you want to check where you are on the scale of the existential vacuum? You are invited to fill out the following survey.
Photo by the blowup on Unsplash
