Each of us is responsible for finding our own meaning to live.*
Bruce Feiler

Thou shalt create complex characters rather than merely complicated story.**
Robert McKee

In breaking down his reflection on the work of
Viktor Frankl –
How we do not ask Life what its meaning is,
But Life asks us –
Bruce Feiler offers an
ABC
for shaping meaning:
A is for Agency,
B is for Belonging,
C is for Cause.

The most meaningful stories contain all of these,
Though we are likely to prioritise,
And in doing so,
Our story deepens:

When you commit you deepen presence. Though your choice narrows the range of possibility now open to you, it increases the intensity of chosen possibility.^

I am reminded of the 3 Cs:
Confession is for expressing the deepest and best truths about ourselves –
And will be marked by growing humility, gratitude and faithfulness;
Communion is for relating to others, our world and our god –
And will be marked by growing integrity, wholeness and perseverance;
Commission is for serving a purpose greater than ourselves –
And will be marked by growing courage, generosity and wisdom.

My growing understanding is that our lives
are trying to call us towards the kind of complexity
Robert McKee suggests we need,
So that if we were able to step outside all
the noise and the rush,
Even for a short while,
We might begin to hear the whisperings of our lives
and begin
or continue
to create our
meaningful stories:

The ancient myths were designed to harmonise the mind and body. The mind can ramble off in strange ways and want things that the body does not want.^^

*Bruce Feiler’s Life Is In the Transitions;
**Robert McKee‘s newsletter: The Beauty of Character Dilemma;
^John O’Donohue’s Eternal Echoes;
^^Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers’ The Power of Myth.
.