“Speaking Truths of the Heart”

Kind of in deep thought this morning. Yesterday, our team evaluated a candidate for a position on our team. The evaluation consisted of that person delivering a module from our curriculum. The interesting thing about teaching is this, no matter how many times I listen to or deliver a lesson, I almost always walk away scratching my head. I really strive to look at things from another angle to maximize my takeaway from the information presented. Thus, grow my own wisdom.

It’s interesting to read about great philosophers of the ancient world. It is intriguing to envision the likes of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Epictetus, and many others walking in circles around the Parthenon having these deep discussions. You can also learn a lot from stories such as one of my favorites, “Gates of Fire”. I love the notion that after battle, the Spartans would gather around the fire after “Stacking Arms” (stacking their shields and swords). They would clean the blood off of them, tend to wounds, let down their hard and speak “truths of the heart” around the fire. That is when the stuff gets deep. That is where our minds and hearts are subjected to deep and profound questions about life.

At Warrior PATHH, one of the ideas we present is that “The reason why suffering is a source of wisdom is because when we struggle, we are forced to ask and answer deep and profound questions about life”. It’s those questions that lead us down the path of understanding and growth in wisdom. I also feel it’s important to point out something. I mentioned “Warrior PATHH”. PATHH (Progressive and Alternative Training for Healing Heroes) is a program, or course of instruction and discovery, we deliver to combat veterans and first responders. Its foundation is built on Post Traumatic Growth and what we have learned from people like Viktor Frankl. Frankl is remarkably interesting because of his contrast of thinking and his own discoveries. The following is taken from Viktor Frankl Institute of America’s site.

In contrast to Freudian traditions of depth psychology, Frankl referred to logotherapy as height psychology. Depth psychology is oriented towards the past and the dark, unconscious mysteries of an individual. There are times when this may be appropriate, but it reduces problems of living to something similar to a disease that needs to be cured. This approach puts the therapist in a position of authority and treats the patient as someone with a disability. Frankl once wrote, “Logotherapy declares war on pathologism” because of its orientation towards the future and the belief that humans have the capacity to move beyond inner and outer obstacles. https://viktorfranklamerica.com/what-is-logotherapy/

I also want to note the use of “Pathos”.

Pathos or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions.

Authors use pathos to invoke sympathy from an audience; to make the audience feel what the author wants them to feel. A common use of pathos would be to draw pity from an audience. Another use of pathos would be to inspire anger from an audience, perhaps in order to prompt action. Pathos is the Greek word for both “suffering” and “experience.” The words empathy and pathetic are derived from pathos. https://pathosethoslogos.com/

I mention the above because when we have those deep conversations with others on the same path as us, we tend to ask questions like, “Why am I here?”, “Where do I belong?”, “Who am I?”.

So, this morning, those are the questions and conversations I’ve been sitting on. Not necessarily for myself, but in general. All that is what circled me back around and garnered my attention towards Frankl’s teachings. It’s all very fascinating to me and I truly enjoy siting in on these conversations either as a participant or for active engagement. These discussions are necessary, even more so in today’s day in age. They simply do not happen as much as they should. I encourage you all to make time to sit with those you enjoy learning with and take the deep dive into discovering and unearthing what you may not already know. Be open to new ideas and strive to see things from other angles to better understand what you struggle seeing clearly.