THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO SEARCH ITS MEANING

 I just read with delight and for the third time Victor E. Frankl's book, The Unheard Cry for Meaning (Psychotherapy and Humanism). Frankl states that, besides love and work, life never ceases to have meaning. According to Freud, love and work are the pillars of our humanity; however, according to Frankl, our main purpose is to search for the meaning of life even without an occupation or a lover to show us the way. The real task is to discover the meaning of existence in situations that only emanate despair. Even on the stormy nights of our life, if we look hard enough, we will discover the meaning of our suffering. Frankl’s thesis is something that, after professional successes and failures, deep and hopeless loves, I had also inferred. The true meaning of life has to do with suffering because suffering is the window to true knowledge. In other words, if we are able to live our days of pain with courage and the will to overcome them, we will be transforming our soul into a virtuous soul. In other words, our true life purpose should be the transformation of our soul into an impeccable soul. Still, what is an impeccable soul? An impeccable soul inhabits a being that is always ready to assist those in need, no matter if friend or foe; it’s a soul that shares what life gave him/her with those who have less; he/she never lies because he/she knows that lying prevents others from making a correct choice; he/she takes charge of the tasks delegated by life and does so responsibly; but more than that, he/she is grateful for everything he/she has received and that others lack. In other words, it is a soul cleansed of envy and resentment, the need for revenge and the desire for material goods in excess. Transforming ourselves into impeccable souls, in addition to the peace it provides us, has another unique benefit: knowing that when we travel the right path, everything falls into place.

5Maria S. Viale, Donna Katz Maples and 3 others

DANIEL, MI COMPAŇERO DE COLEGIO

El otro día se me ocurrió mirar una fotografía de la época de cuando iba al colegio; sería cuando tenía unos catorce años. Este era un colegio mixto en el que, a pesar de estar ubicado en Buenos Aires, en vez de aprender castellano, aprendíamos francés. Tal había sido la decisión de mis padres, y allí fui sin protestar. Resultó que, además de aprender francés como una francesa, me hice los mejores amigos que tuve en la vida. Esos fueron años mágicos que todavía conservo en la memoria como un tesoro al que recurro en mis horas de soledad. Aquellas horas transcurridas con mis compañeros de aula

me acompañarán hasta el último día. Pero a lo que me quería referir era que, a través de Facebook, me volví a conectar con uno de ellos; se llama Daniel. Si bien de joven era un poco distante, era sin duda uno de los mejores alumnos de la clase. Cuando le mandé un mensaje para preguntarle si él era el Daniel que yo buscaba, y me contestó que sí, sentí que había vuelto a recuperar un pedazo de mi pasado. A los pocos días de habernos contactado decidimos enviarnos un breve resumen de nuestras vidas en los últimos cincuenta años; y al leer el suyo volví a encontrarme una vez más en aquella construcción antigua de la calle 3 de Febrero, donde transcurrió la mayor parte de mi infancia y adolescencia. Me dije entonces que amigos como los que compartieron con nosotros infinidad de horas en el silencio de un aula no volveremos a tener. Tendremos otros amigos, diferentes, más maduros, pero que no sentirán por nosotros ese afecto de hermanos que recibíamos en el aula del colegio. Y así es la vida: cuando la infancia termina, lo que empieza es una jornada profundamente diferente. 

 

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO SEARCH ITS MEANING

 I just read with delight and for the third time Victor E. Frankl's book, The Unheard Cry for Meaning (Psychotherapy and Humanism). Frankl states that, besides love and work, life never ceases to have meaning. According to Freud, love and work are the pillars of our humanity; however, according to Frankl, our main purpose is to search for the meaning of life even without an occupation or a lover to show us the way. The real task is to discover the meaning of existence in situations that only emanate despair. Even on the stormy nights of our life, if we look hard enough, we will discover the meaning of our suffering. Frankl’s thesis is something that, after professional successes and failures, deep and hopeless loves, I had also inferred. The true meaning of life has to do with suffering because suffering is the window to true knowledge. In other words, if we are able to live our days of pain with courage and the will to overcome them, we will be transforming our soul into a virtuous soul. In other words, our true life purpose should be the transformation of our soul into an impeccable soul. Still, what is an impeccable soul? An impeccable soul inhabits a being that is always ready to assist those in need, no matter if friend or foe; it’s a soul that shares what life gave him/her with those who have less; he/she never lies because he/she knows that lying prevents others from making a correct choice; he/she takes charge of the tasks delegated by life and does so responsibly; but more than that, he/she is grateful for everything he/she has received and that others lack. In other words, it is a soul cleansed of envy, resentment, the need for revenge, and the desire for material goods in excess. Transforming ourselves into impeccable souls, in addition to the peace it provides us, has another unique benefit: knowing that when we travel the right path, everything falls into place.

FERIA DEL LIBRO EN BUENOS AIRES - EDITORIAL AUTORES DE ARGENTINA - STAND Nº103 ubicado en el Pabellón Azul.

 SOLEDAD EN MIAMI es la historia de una mujer de mediana edad que, al cabo de muchos años de matrimonio, tiene que hacerle frente a un divorcio inesperado. Teniendo en cuenta que en Miami muchas amistades se basan en el estatus social, en el caso de Ana los amigos del matrimonio eligen a su ex marido. Y al ser ella inmigrante, carece de amigos de juventud que puedan apoyarla en este difícil momento.

Autor: Marina Oppenheimer

REFLECTIONS IN TIME OF PANDEMIA (AMAZON)

 RETIREMENT, LONELINESS OR SOLITUDE

 

 When in 2015 I decided to retire, it was not because of boredom with my job, but for other reasons. Planning my retirement years was not difficult for me because I knew I was going to write self-help books and autobiographical stories. That was all I thought about when planning ahead those hours with no professional obligations. Despite being a seasoned

psychotherapist, the risk of loneliness didn’t even cross my mind. The first months after leaving my job were busy because I had planned a trip to Europe and, as we all know, travelling is the best antidote for loneliness. Upon my return I started working on my first book, The Second Half of Life: A Woman’s Road to Inner Wisdom and then on its translation to Spanish; and with these projects in mind days and months flew fast into 2016. Having completed that first project, I decided to take a break and find other things to do as well. Although I am a very sociable person and knew well how to reorganize my life as a divorced middle-aged woman, there were moments when I felt that the ceiling was going to cave in. Those were difficult hours that induced me to ponder how to make the best of my moments of solitude. I knew that life is made of friends and aloneness, but it took me a long time to understand that in order to appreciate our solitude we need to undergo a deep spiritual transformation. What kind of transformation? In a few words, we need to expand our consciousness so that, when we are alone, we are not surrounded by empty space. My first task was to work on my self-esteem and value all the good things I had achieved in life. I finally understood that comparing myself with others only leads to a feeling of nihilism. I know that my books are not Nobel Prize material; however, I also know that the ideas they present have helped more than one soul. My second task was to remember all those people I had met through the years that had been good to me one way or another. Making them my ever-present companions filled my moments of solitude with the memory of their affection, so that I very rarely felt alone. My third task was to distance myself from all those who, because of their own pathology, look for vulnerable others to project their toxicity. It is not a coincidence that philosophers like Schopenhauer and Sartre have mentioned the fact that very few people in life can be valuable friends. As a result, I have become more selective, and because I don’t need others to conquer loneliness. I have finally learned to love my solitude

MI HIJO

 

MI HIJO

 

Hijo de mi alma, hijo de mi vida, hijo de la Vida,

naciste un glorioso día de abril en el amanecer de mis días

felices. Con los ojos color del cielo claro, con la mirada seria,

con dos manos hechas para abrirte paso

en los caminos de piedra oscura.

Hijo de la Vida que caíste en mi regazo un glorioso día

para caminar a mi lado, inocente, desprotegido.

Juntos recorrimos senderos desconocidos,

de roca brillante, lisa, resbaladiza. Pero avanzamos.

En ese entonces el sol brillaba sobre el lago,

y a la noche la luna se perdía entre las aguas.

iCuántas palabras entre nosotros! iCuántas horas compartidas!

Hoy mi camino se acorta mientras el tuyo se ensancha.

iCuánta nostalgia me queda entre las manos! ҁQué hago con ella?

El recuerdo me acompaña de los días que se han ido

y queda conmigo el color de tus ojos claros.

 

 

IS MEDITATION FOR EVERYBODY?

(Extract from my book The Secret of Loneliness in the Second Half of Life. Amazon)

The Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) stated that if we meditate by sitting in front of a wall, the only thing we will achieve is a dull mind. Perhaps his statement is a little extreme, but I really believe that each one of us needs to find his own way of reflecting. Let’s think of the verb to meditate as meaning to ponder and think on those matters that are at the core of our life and that prevent us from being at peace with ourselves. It matters little if we do our thinking sitting down with our eyes closed or walking in a park full of magnificent vegetation. The important thing is that we decide to do it and do it conscientiously. In my case, early every morning, I walk my dog in a state park located on a Florida key. With my cell tuned on a classical music radio station, I walk and at the same time observe nature, its plants, its birds, and its beaches. In this amazing scenario, not only I purify my mind, but I also ponder on the theme of the day, which can be a memory from long ago, a recent conversation with my son, a message I just received, or a subject to write about in my blog. The goal of my meditation consists in detecting what are those events that disturb me. Let’s remember that our emotions are the thermometer of our soul because they are the ones who point out to us what needs to be reviewed. Since emotions have a life of their own, they will show us the path that we need to follow to expand our knowledge of who we are. However, since my meditation does not consist in sitting in front of a shrine eyes closed, whenever I meet another human being doing the same thing as I am doing, I am glad to greet. My greeting is usually met with a smile, and this gesture adds meaning to my day as well as it increases my feeling of connection with others.