The inescapable paradox of life

Many a truth spoken in fiction. I think the reason so many people resonated with the Harry Potter story is because J.K. Rowling managed to capture the magic of life and the importance of friendship without sugar-coating the inherent struggles and the pain of loss. Put another way, yes life is beautiful and love is eternal, but life is also a bitch and then you die. This is the inescapable paradox of life.

One of the most helpful books I discovered was by Austrian psychiatrist and survivor of four Nazi concentration camps, Viktor Frankl, called Man’s Search for Meaning.

Many years later, I delved deeper into existential psychology as part of my PhD (doctoral) research. The essence, I learned, was that we find meaning or satisfaction in life from a number of potential sources: faith/religion/values, relationships (intimate and platonic), altruism (dedicating ourselves to a selfless cause), achievement (striving to improve), creativity and beauty (e.g. in music, art or nature).