Chapter 2
    Centering and Integrating

     Instead of remaining lost in the fun-house of interesting things to do
(watching television, eating, reading the newspaper, going on vacation)
or in the ready-made commitments approved by society
(working hard at worthy jobs, raising a good family),
we can grow beyond responsible adulthood and conventional maturity
to become unified, centered, integrated, & whole persons
by carefully selecting and consistently pursuing new life-meanings.
These comprehensive choices become the core of our self-creating selves.

     The quest for Authenticity focuses on the quality of living today.
Are we using our time (the substance of our lives) in the best way?
In this week of our lives, will we actualize our highest potentialities?
Whatever high-minded ideals we might theoretically embrace,
our real identities as human persons is revealed by what we pursue,
how we—even today—focus and integrate our lives
or how we remain distracted captives of our enculturation.

    9a. Hide from our Existential Predicament.

     Our Existential Predicament or Existential Malaise is:
fear when there is nothing to be afraid of,
meaninglessness even when we have accomplished much,
depression without a specific reason for feeling 'down',
insecurity when we are objectively protected and safe,
loneliness amid good relationships,
& despair without reason for losing hope.

     This Existential Dilemma must be carefully distinguished
from all problems that can be traced to specific circumstances.
Interpersonal loneliness means we lack satisfying personal relationships.
But existential loneliness is an incompleteness at the core of our beings.
Much of our frustration arises when we try to handle the deeper problem
as if it were the more superficial psychological twin it pretends to be.

     And if we notice our primordial depression, disharmony, & anxiety,
we usually try to evade, deny, ignore, or cover it up.

50. If I have noticed my Existential Predicament,
am I still hiding from that bitter truth,
evading it, denying it, trying not to notice it?   Choose one:
I have no awareness of any so-called "Existential Malaise"—4 points
yes—3 points                      somewhat—2 points                         no—0 points

51. Do I expect to find a situational cause and a corresponding cure
for all my anxiety, guilt, depression, loneliness, etc.?
                                          yes—1 point                                     no—0 points

18 BECOMING MORE AUTHENTIC: THE POSITIVE SIDE OF EXISTENTIALISM by JAMES PARK

    9b. Embrace our Existential Predicament.

     Recognizing and acknowledging our Existential Predicament
is one of the most important steps on the way toward greater Authenticity.
Only when we consciously own our existential anxiety, depression, etc.
can we begin to construct our new selves on a solid foundation.
While we evade and deny our absurdity and despair, we remain inauthentic.

     But how do we embrace our Existential Malaise?
A full description of this inward movement appears in Part III of this book:
Camus encourages us to stand rebelliously against existential absurdity.
Sartre tells us to invent our own meanings in an otherwise meaningless world.
Heidegger explains how to confront our existential guilt and death.

     If we experience our Existential Predicament as anxiety,
we might be immobilized because we can't cope with the free-floating terror.
But once we understand 'the nameless dread',
we can harness 'the dragon within' to empower our Authentic projects.
Instead of being gnawed away from inside,
we can capture the power of angst
and turn it toward creative, self-affirming projects-of-being.
For example, Simone Weil was a very sensitive and anxious person.
But instead of pulling into herself, perhaps to die in her own acids,
she committed herself to practical social and political causes.
We might disagree with her purposes or her methods,
but we can recognize someone who used her anxiety triumphantly.

     All of us must compose our own responses to our Existential Malaise.
Certainly we can learn from the struggles of others
who have faced their existential anxiety, meaninglessness, & emptiness.
But only we can compose the personal posture of being
that empowers us to affirm ourselves against our inner caughtness.
Maintaining this constant tension within ourselves
impels us toward greater personal integration and centeredness.

     We must discover thru our own personal struggles
how to transform what first seems only to be blackness and despair
into a creative impetus for our new autonomous and self-affirming lives.
We become more Authentic by harnessing, channeling, redirecting
the power of our Existential Malaise into our freely-chosen life-projects.

80. Have I learned how to embrace my existential anxiety,
existential depression, existential guilt, existential loneliness
(or however I experience my Malaise)
so that it has become a positive, creative force in my life?
yes—5 points                       somewhat—3 points                        no—0 points

CENTERING AND INTEGRATING by JAMES PARK                                                             19

How to cite the above pages from Becoming More Authentic

    Students and scholars are invited to quote
anything from the above pages. 
Here is the proper form for the footnote or other reference: 

James Park  Becoming More Authentic:
The Positive Side of Existentialism
(Minneapolis, MN: Existential Books, 2007—5th edition)
p. xx  

{the page numbers appear at the bottom of the pages}


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Created September 10, 2008; Revised 3-3-2017;

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