𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝘁. (𝘋𝘳. 𝘋'𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦)

This 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 talked about how to stop chasing transcendence and start practicing it each and every day.

“𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 — 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 & 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 & 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜” — Dr. Chris Deussing

While the first half of this 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 explored the fragility of #growth & meaning, the second half addressed this question:

How do we live in ways that keep meaning alive on a daily basis?

The answers that emerged were surprisingly modest.

It’s not about living life heroically.

Instead, we talked about #mindfulness as a path toward transcendence — not as a call for perfection, but as an everyday discipline of staying in contact with life.

In this sense, transcendence isn’t about escaping discomfort or perpetually chasing elevated states.

It’s ordinary. Repetitive. And often uncomfortable.

As Falisha Oser observed:

𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚. 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣.”

When mindfulness develops beyond being confined to a self-soothing tool, it becomes a powerful way of augmenting #consciousness. Within this spaciousness, the capacity to mentalize grows.

This is how the shallow horizontal axis of existence opens up into the depth of the vertical — a multidimensional life experienced as meaningful rather than merely managed. In this sense, mindfulness becomes the royal road to #transcendence.

With transcendent presence as the aim, mindful awareness shifts from a hack to feel better toward a lifestyle that fosters and protects #meaning.

This same standard of presence extends to the therapist’s role. Logotherapy raises the bar for clinicians — not only in technical expertise, but in lived experience. It asks something demanding: the capacity to transcend oneself in all realms of life in an ongoing manner.

This type of presence is hard-won. It emerges from having tolerated pain, uncertainty, & limitation through repeated encounters with life. It cannot be simulated.

Without it, we risk becoming the blind leading the blind. As Keshawn Williams emphasized:

“𝙐𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙩?”

In closing, the group wrestled with a paradox Frankl identified: when the search for meaning becomes excessive. Dr. Rachel Sieke warned:

“𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙧-𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 — 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣.”

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺.