MESSAGE FROM THE
HEADMASTER Meaning Resides in Lives’ Cherished ‘Whys’
I
N THEIR choices and actions, knowingly
Conversely, “a man who becomes conscious
or not, they all answer the question: “Why?”
of the responsibility he bears toward a human
Consider the teacher who stays after hours to
being who waits for him, or to an unfinished
help a struggling student. Or the parent who
work, will never be able to throw away his life,”
commutes to work long before sunrise, on the
Frankl writes. “He knows the ‘why’ for his exis-
first train out of Greenwich.
tence, and will be able to bear almost any ‘how.’”
Or the alumnus who advocates for a current
At Auschwitz, Frankl observed again and again
senior in the college process. Or the fourth-grade
that an individual may be completely deprived
boy who volunteers to be a Big Brother for a
of every possession, right, and liberty — except
younger Bruin.
for his power and freedom to choose how he
Or the sophomore who dedicates the first evening of a long-awaited vacation — and the darkest hours of the following morning — to
responds to the circumstance or situation. No matter how disempowering or dehumanizing the experience became, Frankl writes,
serve the homeless on the streets of New York City on a Midnight Run. All of them, in large and small ways — day in and day out — pursue the value and “meaning” of their lives by dedicating themselves to a purpose, and by remembering that their actions in reaching out to help others build and strengthen that meaning by making powerful and lasting connections. In his concise and compelling book Man’s Search for Meaning,
“there were always choices to
IN WHAT WE DO — AND IN HOW AND WHY WE DO IT — WE SEEK EVERY DAY TO INSTILL IN OUR BOYS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEIR LIVES’ MEANING GROWS STRONGER AND RICHER THROUGH PURPOSE AND CONNECTION.
psychiatrist and Auschwitz
be made. Every day, every hour,
fundamental observation about life’s “primary
offered the opportunity to make
motivation” remains constant — and it’s a guiding
a decision.”
principle of everything we do at Brunswick.
Those who recognized the
getting, get understanding.” In what we do —
and decisions, he says, built
and in how and why we do it — we seek every
and maintained strength and
day to instill in our boys the understanding that
will to persevere, survive —
their lives’ meaning grows stronger and richer
and eventually to nourish and,
through purpose and connection.
in the doing, be nourished themselves in return. That’s true today, even in
I can’t help but marvel at all of those in the Brunswick community — students, faculty, parents, and alumni — who so clearly and
an environment of near-
consistently devote themselves to the greater
unimaginable plenty and
“whys,” many risking failure in their quests to
prosperity, more than 70
make their own lives more meaningful and the
survivor Viktor Frankl suggests that “search for
years after Frankl faced down and persevered
meaning” is the “primary motivation” of human
through and beyond the stark and bleak hope-
life: Without purposeful work or understanding
lessness of Auschwitz.
that we all can and do make a big difference,
As it says above our doorways: “With all thy
“whys” of making those choices
In our 21st-century lives, our circumstances
lives of others more full. I hope, each day, we may each take just a little time to ponder and cherish the potential of our individual and collective searches for meaning
we humans will naturally wither and finally
may be rich, joyful, preoccupying, or, on occa-
as, together, we venture through another
abandon the will to live.
sion, outright miserable. No matter: Frankl’s
remarkable school year.
Thomas W. Philip
WWW.BRUNSWICKSCHOOL .ORG
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