10 June 2020
All three lists, from which I’m synthesizing these seven factors of resilience, included at least one of meaning, beauty, and narrative. None were included as aesthetic afterthoughts but as tools for building and using resilience.
The Dying Gaul (pictured above) was introduced to me by Professor Pierre du Prey in 1979, Queen’s University, with a statement about admiration for the dignity of honourable opponents. The original was commissioned and sculpted by ancient Greeks in honour of defeated Gauls. This is storytelling—narrative rendered so beautifully that humanity has been studying and admiring this representation, this embodied meaning, for 2,300 years.
So, how and why do meaning, beauty, and narrative build resilience? The short answer is that without meaning, beauty, and narrative, human life appears no more than a chaotic series of mishaps ending in death. And while that statement hints at an underlying meaninglessness, disguised by narrative and beauty, Aristotle argued the contrary. That is, a substantial portion of life’s importance lies in its implicit legibility and meaningfulness (Posterior Analytics, II.19).
Meaning, beauty, and narrative allow us to read, test, and value our past episodes whether grin-and-bear-it struggles or glorious victories. Dan McAdams (2015), has argued that our very personalities consist in how we value and narrate our life-stories to ourselves and others. For those recovering from addiction, there probably must be gratitude for the agony that lead them to this point of recognition and realization i.e., the making real of one’s own struggle through meaning, beauty, and narrative—even, like our noble Gaul, in the face of one’s final struggle for self-mastery. With meaning, beauty, and narrative comes optimism, and with optimism, resilience.
This resonates with me. I feel that finding the meaning and story behind addiction can be very scary and hard to come to terms with. I would argue that simple awareness should be latched on to the “meaning, beauty, and narrative” piece; because I feel that my addictions have distorted my awareness for many years. Finding that awareness I hope will unlock my narrative and give it meaning; maybe allowing me to see the beauty in it one day.
Hi Chris: Thanks for the thoughtful response. I maintain the scariness exists in direct proportion to our own self-judgment. More directly: If we cease judging our past behaviours and mistakes, and simply accept them as the cost of living this life, they become smaller and less intimidating. You are correct in your premise that, if we fail to look squarely at life (simple awareness), we start to depend on defenses (like addictive behaviours) to mask the pain that must inevitably be dealt with if we are to live life on life’s terms = the only healthy choice.