Yes, the world according to Woody Allen is so bereft of meaning, so godless and absurd, that the only proper response is to curl up on a sofa and howl for your mommy. Alternatively, you could try the Allen approach, which is to make a feature film every year and try, however briefly, to distract yourself from the darkness. "You do the best you can within the concentration camp," he says, cutting straight to the life-as-Auschwitz metaphor. "It's very hard to keep your spirits up. You've got to keep selling yourself a bill of goods, and some people are better at lying to themselves than others. If you face reality too much, it kills you." He is almost evangelically passionate about a few subjects. None more so than the chilling emptiness of life.

"It's just an awful thing," he says, shrugging a little, "and in that context you've got to find an answer to the question: Why go on?" ... "It's strange," he says, "because I'm a comedian doing comic films with this bleak view all the time, and either that's what makes my movies interesting or it's what torpedoes them." With the possible exception of Charlie Chaplin, nobody has ever directed, written and acted in as many standout movies as Woody Allen, and he did it without anyone else, except for an occasional co-writer, vetting his lines. "I never wanted movies to be an end. I wanted them to be a means so that I could have a decent life -- meet attractive women, go out on dates, live decently. Not opulently, but with some security. I feel the same way now.” From Cloud In the Silver Lining, By David Segal, Washington Post, July 26, 2006

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What the series ["Six Feet Under"] is all about is: We die. So while we're here, let's live fully. There are lots of things that masquerade as having the key to life -- religion, culture. But ultimately we have to make decisions on our own. And we will make mistakes. And that's OK, because we're human. It's a struggle to find meaning, but that struggle is the meaning. Alan Ball - creator of the HBO series .. [Los Angeles Times, Aug 15, 2005]

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photo by Bernhard Berger from the "Klimt" film site www.klimtderfilm.at

no cure In fin de siecle Vienna, you were dealing with a group of psychiatrists, composers, novelists, playwrights, architects and, of course, painters -- who thought there was a cure. It's obviously a generational thing, but I'm a Beckett man. And as Beckett said: "You're on earth, there's no cure for that." Klimt and his circle didn't believe that, which I find very haunting and wonderful. They were probably less pessimistic than we are. John Malkovich - about portraying artist Gustav Klimt .. [Los Angeles Times March 27, 2005]

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horror vacui - The compulsion to make marks in every space. Horror vacui is indicated by a crowded design. In Latin, it is literally, "fear of empty space" or "fear of emptiness." Some consider horror vacui one of the principles of design. Those who exclude it from their list of principles apparently interpret it as posessing an undesirable, perhaps obsessive quality, in contrast to the desirable, controled principle of limitation, or perhaps to that of emphasis or dominance. "Horror vacui -- fear of emptiness -- is the driving force in contemporary American taste. Along with the commercial interests that exploit this interest, it is the major factor now shaping attitudes toward public spaces, urban spaces, and even suburban sprawl." > Herbert Muschamp, contemporary architecture critic, New York Times, August, 21, 2000. > from an ArtLex Art Dictionary page www.artlex.com/ArtLex/Ho.html

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Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives... most of the things that are interesting, important and human are the results of creativity... when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  -- author of Creativity : Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

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White Oleander Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator.. has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife.  An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive.  And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers.  This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes.

As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces."  Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down a path of sorting out her past and identity. In the process, this girl develops a wire-tight inner strength, gains her mother's white-blonde beauty, and achieves some measure of control over their relationship.  Even from prison, Ingrid tries to mold her daughter. Foiling her, Astrid learns about tenderness from one foster mother and how to stand up for herself from another. White Oleander - by Janet Fitch photo: Michelle Pfeiffer and Alison Lohman  in the movie

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.. .. Craig Schwartz [John Cusack] : There's a tiny door in that empty office. It's a portal, Maxine. It takes you inside John Malkovich. You see the world through John Malkovich's eyes, then, after about fifteen minutes, you're spit out into a ditch on the side of The New Jersey Turnpike.

He's an actor. One of the great American actors of the 20th century. He's been in lots of things. He's very well respected. That jewel thief movie, for example. The point is that this is a very odd thing, supernatural, for lack of a better word.  It raises all sorts of philosophical questions about the nature of self, about the existence of the soul.  Am I me? Is Malkovich Malkovich? Was the Buddha right, is duality an illusion? Do you see what a can of worms this portal is? I don't think I can go on living my life as I have lived it.  There's only one thing to do. Let's get married right away.  Being John Malkovich (1999) -  written by Charlie Kaufman

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.. .. His mental sufferings were due to the fact that.. the question suddenly occurred to him: "What if my whole life has been wrong?"  It occurred to him that what had appeared perfectly impossible before, namely that he had not spent his life as he should have done, might after all be true.... "But if that is so," he said to himself, "and i am leaving this life with the consciousness that I have lost all that was given me and it is impossible to rectify it -- what then?"

Tolstoy, in this passage toward the end of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, captures the mpment of coming face to face with the realization that one has wasted time not living the life one should have lived.  Regret is perhaps too soft a word for the feelings that accompany this recognition.  To feel that your life has been in vain, that you have nothing to show for the time, that you fell asleep, made false moves, or settled for something far less than you could have -- that is painful. Be careful with regret. It is tricky territory. Learn from it, but avoid indulging in it. Kenneth W. Christian, PhD ....Your Own Worst Enemy : Breaking the Habit  of Adult Underachievement image of Tolstoy from book The Death of Ivan Ilyich

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On the one hand, there is the remembering of the trauma, be it acute or cumulative and on the other hand.. there is the terrible feeling of remorse... that the trauma contributed to a "life unlived."  One of my favorite therapists used to say, "An unexamined life is not worth living, but an unlived life is not worth examining."  A corollary of this argument would be that an unlived life is not worth living, and here we arrive at the element of deep despair in the feeling of remorse. "I have not lived."  Add to this the feeling of existential guilt, "I have committed the crime of not living," and a feeling of despair, "and I shall never live." Clients and therapist alike wish to avoid painful feelings like these.  Therapists may feel like they are causing unnecessary pain to clients and thus not uncover feelings of remorse, or even try to talk the client out of their remorse with hopeful and uplifting comments.  If this is done the client is left alone with their remorse and with the self-hatred and despair that are part of it.

.. .. Perhaps the patterns of self-defeating behavior or depression and despair persist. Perhaps both the client and the therapist see the client as resisting or as a chronic case...a “help-rejecting complainer” and no forward movement occurs. My belief is that only by opening up the complex of the feeling of remorse can forward movement be made. Clive Hazell, PhD ...The Experience of Emptiness image from book : I Will Not Die an Unlived Life:  Reclaiming Purpose and Passion - by Dawna Markova

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.. .. Nearly two decades ago, as a graduate student in humanistic psychology, I read the works of May (1961) and Kierkegaard (1842/1968) and was struck by the notion of existential dread. Although it did not ring a true note within me, I am hearing the reverberating tones of existential dread now - in my interactions with high school and college students.  The dark lyrics of their music, the morbid images in which they costume themselves, and their apparent lack of interest in their future, or even personal survival, are ominous.

Experts and the general public have a choice of sources for the current situation.  Television and movies, violent video games, drugs, and rock and roll are frequently cited as having an adverse effect on adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. .... I suppose we may be seeing phenomena unique to our historic times, yet I recall similar themes in Greek and Norse mythology, in Jewish historic and sacred writings, in the journey of Buddha, in the oral traditions of Native Americans, and in classical literature. Giftedness may be another element. What if being a gifted youth has a dark side? What if there is a heavy burden to knowing too much, feeling too much? from article :  Adolescence and Gifted: Addressing Existential Dread -  by J'Anne Ellsworth, PhD  ...Rollo May. Existential psychology The Sickness Unto Death -- by Soren Kierkegaard image from book Teen Angst? Naaah  by Ned Vizzini

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..Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals -  by James T. Webb, Ph.D.  [excerpt] It has been my experience that gifted and talented persons are more likely to experience a type of depression referred to as existential depression.  Although an episode of existential depression may be precipitated in anyone by a major loss or the threat of a loss which highlights the transient nature of life, persons of higher intellectual ability are more prone to experience existential depression spontaneously.  Sometimes this existential depression is tied into the positive disintegration experience referred to by Dabrowski (1996). Existential depression is a depression that arises when an individual confronts certain basic issues of existence.  Yalom (1980) describes four such issues (or "ultimate concerns") -- death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness.

Death is an inevitable occurrence. Freedom, in an existential sense, refers to the absence of external structure. That is, humans do not enter a world which is inherently structured.  We must give the world a structure which we ourselves create. Isolation recognizes that no matter how close we become to another person, a gap always remains, and we are nonetheless alone.  Meaninglessness stems from the first three. If we must die, if we construct our own world, and if each of us is ultimately alone, then what meaning does life have? Why should such existential concerns occur disproportionately among gifted persons?  Partially, it is because substantial thought and reflection must occur to even consider such notions, rather than simply focusing on superficial day-to-day aspects of life. article : Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals -  by James T. Webb, Ph.D. image from book :  Jean-Paul Sartre. Being And Nothingness

related pages:......Dabrowski on advanced development.......depression.....depression:: teen/young adult

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....articles:

Adolescence and Gifted: Addressing Existential Dread - by J'Anne Ellsworth, PhD

Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals - by James T. Webb, Ph.D.

The Philosophical Foundations of Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration - Part 2:  Existentialism, Kierkegaard and Dabrowski - by Bill Tillier [PDF file]

The relationship between emotional abuse and the experience of emptiness - by Mitchell, S. M.
This theoretical study explores the complex relationship between emotional abuse and the experience of emptiness. Emotional abuse is just beginning to be understood as a real and formative type of maltreatment that leaves its recipients with an aftermath of inner destruction and a robbing of the soul. This paper explores the idea that emptiness and emotional abuse in our culture are pervasive.

  related:  anxiety / fear / courage articles

....books:
 

Kenneth W. Christian, PhD. Your Own Worst Enemy : Breaking the Habit of Adult Underachievement

Clive Hazell, PhD. The Experience of Emptiness

Dawna Markova. I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion

Rollo May. Existential psychology

Paul Tillich. The Courage to Be
 

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.related pages:........awareness / thinking........depression.......Depression and Creativity

self-esteem / self concept.......self-limiting........

...........mental health : front page..........mental health : teen/young adult

............depression resources : books........depression resources : articles / sites......

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