“At the heart of procrastination is a unrealistic desire for perfection.”
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Man’s Search For Meaning Author: Viktor Frankl Reading about the holocaust awakens me to the varying sides and degrees of human nature. “Life in a concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depths. Is it surprising that in those depths we again found only human qualities which in their very nature were a mixture of good and evil? The rift dividing good from evil, which goes through all human beings, reaches into the lowest depths and becomes apparent even on the bottom of the abyss which is laid open by the concentration camp.”  It is easier than we may think to get controlled by the barbaric aspects that exist within us. It’s almost incomprehensible that the holocaust took place in such recent history, at a time — by relative, historic  standards — that contained comfortable living situations, educational access, and plenty of opportunity. Reading about the holocaust reminds me that we are simple and easily manipulated; that we can easily shut off our conscience and our ability to empathize, and do unimaginably horrible things to fellow, innocent, human beings. Those that had meaning were more likely to survive. Frankl was reminded of this at the start of every New Year, when the deaths in the camp drastically increased. According to Frankl, there was one main variable involved with this: loss of meaning. A number of prisoners kept themselves going by imagining themselves out of the camp in time for the holidays, which they hoped to spend with their loved ones. They pictured it in their minds and it kept them going through many grueling days. When the holidays came and went, they no longer had that image to strive for and were crushed. They gave up hope, meaning and ultimately, life.  Reading this book helped give me perspective into my own life, and insight into the power that exists within us all. While reading, I tried my best to fathom the great pain and suffering that those in camps went through, and I tried to understand how they endured it. Starvation, unrelenting work, freezing conditions in the winter, dehydration in the summer; and not just physical pain, but imagine watching neighbors, friends, and family members die.

Man’s Search For Meaning

Author: Viktor Frankl

Reading about the holocaust awakens me to the varying sides and degrees of human nature.

“Life in a concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depths. Is it surprising that in those depths we again found only human qualities which in their very nature were a mixture of good and evil? The rift dividing good from evil, which goes through all human beings, reaches into the lowest depths and becomes apparent even on the bottom of the abyss which is laid open by the concentration camp.” 

It is easier than we may think to get controlled by the barbaric aspects that exist within us. It’s almost incomprehensible that the holocaust took place in such recent history, at a time — by relative, historic  standards — that contained comfortable living situations, educational access, and plenty of opportunity. Reading about the holocaust reminds me that we are simple and easily manipulated; that we can easily shut off our conscience and our ability to empathize, and do unimaginably horrible things to fellow, innocent, human beings.

Those that had meaning were more likely to survive. Frankl was reminded of this at the start of every New Year, when the deaths in the camp drastically increased. According to Frankl, there was one main variable involved with this: loss of meaning. A number of prisoners kept themselves going by imagining themselves out of the camp in time for the holidays, which they hoped to spend with their loved ones. They pictured it in their minds and it kept them going through many grueling days. When the holidays came and went, they no longer had that image to strive for and were crushed. They gave up hope, meaning and ultimately, life. 

Reading this book helped give me perspective into my own life, and insight into the power that exists within us all. While reading, I tried my best to fathom the great pain and suffering that those in camps went through, and I tried to understand how they endured it. Starvation, unrelenting work, freezing conditions in the winter, dehydration in the summer; and not just physical pain, but imagine watching neighbors, friends, and family members die.

“I cannot say what loves have come and gone, I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more.”
“Why care what I think about you? What I like about you are qualities that I value in myself. What I don’t like about you are qualities that I dislike in myself. My liking or disliking of you is mostly about me, and very little about you.”
“To say that each one of us is unique, is another way of saying that each one of us sees reality just a little bit differently.” Thank you for helping me cope with my reality.
Predisposition. We don’t listen to the music and think the thoughts. We think the thoughts and then love the music.

Predisposition.

We don’t listen to the music and think the thoughts.

We think the thoughts and then love the music.

An Illness Of Choice As children we’ve all enjoyed spinning in circles. This initial encounter with the the higher, other-worldly, and ultimately numbing experience of oblivion is considered a part of growing up. Turning to alcohol as a coping mechanism, or worse still, because of boredom, is not. A coping mechanism is another term for a defence mechanism, which is a system of masking emotions using other emotions, ultimately hiding yourself from your problems. The reason we crave alcohol and other drugs (apart from the ‘reward’ they offer) is the sense of balance they provide that makes us feel ‘in control’ of the situation. Like a sought-after prize, alcohol in social situations makes the fight to ‘enjoying’ yourself the most very competitive. Novelty-seeking people who prefer to express themselves aggressively are most susceptible to its all-and-nothing effects. (All because it takes away everything and nothing, because that’s all it leaves you with.) So what makes even the most sensible of us turn to alcohol? One theory offers the concept of regression, a defence mechanism leading to reversion of sense to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way. It’s an attempt to experience the universal feeling of immature innocence, the false lull of security, of protection, and of lowering your consciousness to your problems, so you can finally begin to accept them.  “Heroin is a sensory deprivation tank for the soul. Floating on the dead sea of the drug stone, thoughts drift like ocean weeds and vanish into distant, grey somnolency, unpercieved and indeterminable. Thick nirvanic numbness clogs the limbs, and downward, deeper, the sleeper slides and glides towards oblivion, the perfect and eternal stone.” - Shantaram Reality is so much better. Resources- Dr. S Bhat, Shantaram, Wiki.

An Illness Of Choice

As children we’ve all enjoyed spinning in circles. This initial encounter with the the higher, other-worldly, and ultimately numbing experience of oblivion is considered a part of growing up.

Turning to alcohol as a coping mechanism, or worse still, because of boredom, is not. A coping mechanism is another term for a defence mechanism, which is a system of masking emotions using other emotions, ultimately hiding yourself from your problems.

The reason we crave alcohol and other drugs (apart from the ‘reward’ they offer) is the sense of balance they provide that makes us feel ‘in control’ of the situation. Like a sought-after prize, alcohol in social situations makes the fight to ‘enjoying’ yourself the most very competitive. Novelty-seeking people who prefer to express themselves aggressively are most susceptible to its all-and-nothing effects. (All because it takes away everything and nothing, because that’s all it leaves you with.)

So what makes even the most sensible of us turn to alcohol? One theory offers the concept of regression, a defence mechanism leading to reversion of sense to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way. It’s an attempt to experience the universal feeling of immature innocence, the false lull of security, of protection, and of lowering your consciousness to your problems, so you can finally begin to accept them.

 “Heroin is a sensory deprivation tank for the soul. Floating on the dead sea of the drug stone, thoughts drift like ocean weeds and vanish into distant, grey somnolency, unpercieved and indeterminable. Thick nirvanic numbness clogs the limbs, and downward, deeper, the sleeper slides and glides towards oblivion, the perfect and eternal stone.” - Shantaram

Reality is so much better.

Resources- Dr. S Bhat, Shantaram, Wiki.

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“The practice of art isn’t to make a living. It’s to make your soul grow.”
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“It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”
“Excessive humility is often disguised narcissism.”
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
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“Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.”
“High walls and huge the body may confine, And iron grates obstruct the prisoner’s gaze, And massive bolts may baffle his design, And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways: Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control. No chains can bind it, and no cell enclose: Swifter than light, it flies from pole to pole.”
“Finite to fail, but infinite to venture. For the one ship that struts the shore Many’s the gallant, overwhelmed creature Nodding in navies nevermore.”
You are an illuminating anchor of leagues to infinite number of crashing waves and breaking thunder, riding the ebb and flows of hunger. You’re the ghost of royalty imposing love You are the queen and king combining everything Intertwining like a ring around the finger of a girl Bella luna, my beautiful, beautiful moon How you swoon me like no other. What a song.

You are an illuminating anchor of leagues

to infinite number of crashing waves and breaking thunder,

riding the ebb and flows of hunger.

You’re the ghost of royalty imposing love

You are the queen and king combining everything

Intertwining like a ring around the finger of a girl

Bella luna, my beautiful, beautiful moon

How you swoon me like no other.

What a song.

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