“Tragic optimism is the belief that one can find meaning and hope in life despite experiencing pain, suffering, and loss. It encourages embracing both positive and negative emotions, allowing individuals to grow and develop resilience through adversity.”
Victor Frankl, a survivor of the death camps, specifically Auschwitz, was a psychiatrist who died in 1995. The title of this article, tragic optimism, was coined by Frankl.
For those living with tragic loss, optimism is particularly hard to find. We all to a greater or lesser degree will suffer tragic loss in our lives. But what may make the difference in our mental framework, our future relationship with the world, is our ability to be optimistic.
Giving in to grief, and allowing it to hold you in one place can determine everything in relation to one’s future. Sadness may still be pervasive, for whatever the source of one’s grief actually is, but being able to laugh, seek and find happiness is not ignoring the sadness or denying the memories associated with loss, yet many act as though finding happiness, or at least seeking it, is harmful to the loss and the memories of that loss.
I disagree, as Frankl, who suffered infinitely more loss than I, also did.
Tragic optimism is necessary in order to move on and to live again. To be captured by grief, is not a resolution, while it may well be a necessary step on the path to acceptance of loss.
I have always been fascinated by what it is that allows some to persevere while others, facing the same situation, become completely vulnerable and incapable of moving forward with their lives.
Victor Frankl’s book, “Man’s search for meaning” was released in 1946. You can find it on Amazon. If you are human, you should read the book. We will all suffer loss and grief throughout our lives.
It’s part of the human experience, and there is no avoiding it. How it informs you, shapes you or becomes part of you depends on your having the ability to persevere with purpose. In the words of Nietzsche: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
In this world of unscrupulous leaders, amongst all the pathological lies, the hubris, greed and hate… find your why.
Be well, be safe, be kind.
Leave a Reply