Ideas on Mental Health & Meaning
Memorial Day & The Meaning in Military Service
Today we celebrate Memorial Day in the US - the unofficial start to summer - more importantly, the day we remember those who sacrificed their lives in military service. My good friend, Chief (retired) Paul shares his experience in the military - what led to his...
The Meaning of Money
Money. Little green, or other-colored, pieces of paper. Numbers and decimals on a screen. Simple, as an object. But money has so much more emotional connotation - it represents work we've done, and opportunity ahead of us. It is ripe with the potential for meaning....
Trauma & Resilience – Surviving and Healing from the Boston Marathon Bombing
Manya Chylinski was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013 when the bombs went off. She was fortunate to suffer minimal physical damage. But the mental/emotional trauma she suffered last far longer than she expected. Fortunately, even though she didn't know...
Resilience – A Reflection on the Life and Work of Dr. Steven Southwick
I often speak of turning suffering into achievement in my logotherapy work - one way to do this is by becoming more RESILIENT. Training to be more resilient will actually help you to 'bounce back' from difficult times, and to weather traumatic events in a healthier...
Existential Dynamics & Therapist Break-downs
We've all been having a rough few years here, haven't we? It finally caught up with me in the past few weeks and I actually missed a week of posting a podcast. The podcast was actually done and recorded, but life and work caught up with me, and had me running around...
Leading with Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
I always get a little skeptical when standard behaviors for healthy humans become buzzwords - especially when those buzzwords seem somewhat politically motivated or forced in a way that causes the concepts to lose meaning. I've been curious about the "Diversity,...
Happiness Ensues
“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself...
10 Ways to Betray a Lover
No, this is not a clip from the world-famous Paul Simon song. We will not be hopping on a bus, nor dropping off the keys.... This is a real discussion on how individuals in a committed relationship break trust - and what can be done to rebuild that trust. I feel...
REAL Experts Discuss the 10 Theses
In this episode of the podcast, I had the honor to chat again with Alex Vesely, Viktor Frankl's grandson, and Pam Roy, philanthropist in all things meaningful. As I said in this podcast, I could sit and chat with these two wonderful individuals for days - but...
Frankl’s 10 Theses About the Person
Recently translated and released on ViktorFrankl.org, Dr. Frankl's "10 Theses About the Person" is considered to be "a fundamental text on Frankl's conception of the human being". You can tell about 2/3 through the podcast, that I am in way over my head on this...
On Stolen Focus
I recently finished reading Johann Hari's latest book, Stolen Focus - Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again. I found it to be well researched and informative, and perhaps a little unsettling; so I thought I would share my perspective on it with...
The Great Resignation and The Meaning of Work
Why is work important to our mental health? What is the difference between a job and a vocation? The past few years have been full of change in the work world, regardless of your occupation or vocation. In this episode of The Meaning Project, Rabbi B. and I discuss...