Lost at Sea? Charting Your Course with Existential Thought

Ever feel adrift in a vast ocean of possibilities, the weight of countless choices threatening to sink you? Or maybe the looming shadow of your own mortality casts a chill of anxiety? You’re not alone, friend. These are the very questions that have plagued humanity for millennia, and three brilliant minds — Rollo May, Viktor Frankl, and Soren Kierkegaard — offer unique maps to navigate these existential waters.

Freedom & Responsibility: The Captain’s Compass

May, Frankl, and Kierkegaard all agree: freedom is the captain’s compass on this voyage of life. We get to choose our course, our values, and even how we react to stormy seas. But with this freedom comes responsibility — the responsibility to craft meaning in our journey and face the consequences of our decisions.

Anxiety: The Raging Storm

The vastness of the ocean can be terrifying. The awareness of our eventual end, the burden of countless choices, the fear of isolation on the open waves, and the struggle to find a purpose for sailing — these anxieties can create a raging storm within.

Confronting the Storm & Finding Your Voice (May):

Rollo May, a pioneer in existential therapy, equips us to weather these storms. He identified four main anxieties that can cripple our voyage:

• The Fear of the Final Harbor: May, in The Courage to Create, reminds us that “death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.” This awareness can be a source of profound anxiety.
• The Burden of the Open Sea: As May argues in Love and Will, “We are free…and therefore responsible for our being.” The freedom to choose our course can be paralyzing.
• The Chill of Isolation: Feeling alone on the vast ocean, disconnected from others, is a common fear.
• The Search for a Star to Steer By: The struggle to find meaning and purpose in our journey can be a significant source of anxiety.

May’s therapy aims to help us develop the courage to face these anxieties and find our own unique voice, steering a course true to our values. He emphasizes the importance of genuine connection (the “encounter”) with a therapist as a safe harbor to weather the storms and chart a new course.

Viktor Frankl: Finding Meaning in the Toughest Waves

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, developed logotherapy, a therapy centered on the human search for meaning. Even in the face of the most brutal storms, Frankl believed that we have the freedom to choose our attitude and find meaning in our journey. In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, he identifies three main sources of meaning:

• Creative Living: Meaning found through self-expression, work, and creativity. Frankl himself found solace in writing during his time in concentration camps.
• Experiential Living: Meaning derived from relationships and the love we share with others. As Frankl states, “Love is the ultimate goal that justifies the temporary meaning of life.”
• Attitudinal Living: Choosing our attitude even in the face of the most challenging waves. Frankl famously argued that “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.”

Logotherapy uses techniques like dialogue and “dereflection” (shifting focus away from the problems and towards potential solutions) to help us discover our unique purpose and navigate the roughest seas.

Kierkegaard: The Philosopher’s Lighthouse

Soren Kierkegaard, considered the “father of existentialism,” built a philosophical lighthouse to guide us through the existential fog. He emphasized the individual’s subjective experience and the “leap of faith” required for religious belief. In his work Either/Or, he identified three “shores” of existence:

• The Pleasure Seeker’s Shore: Life focused on immediate gratification and fleeting pleasures.
• The Moral Compass Shore: Life guided by duty and social norms.
• The Faith Shore: Life committed to a higher power and a deeper meaning.

Kierkegaard’s work highlighted the importance of individual choice and the challenges of living authentically, influencing both May and Frankl.

Finding Your Own Course: A Blend of Wisdom

While May, Frankl, and Kierkegaard offer distinct approaches, they all share a fundamental belief in the human potential to navigate the vast ocean of existence. Understanding their ideas can empower therapists to develop customized maps that help individuals confront anxieties, create meaning, and live authentically.

Unfurl Your Sails and Dive Deeper!