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Books as “Soul Teachers” and Mentor Texts
Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning, first published in 1947, is one of the most powerful pieces of writing that I’ve ever read. Part memoir, part psychology text, part history, it is a title I’ve recommended again and again to people in my life. I’ve not personally experienced anything approaching the trauma and loss Frankl endured, but his wisdom and insight into human suffering and resilience have stayed with me in trying times.
In one particularly moving part he writes, “I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for the brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.” The longer passage from which this quotation is excerpted is included below. I share it because of how reading Frankl’s reflection on love and the power of the mind to turn inward and find solace, strength, and peace, even amidst great pain, changed and empowered me. I am learning in midlife to find stillness within myself when chaos in the outside world may threaten my peace and wellbeing, and in that stillness I just might find the meaning I am looking for, or at least a nudge in the right direction. In this sense, Frankl’s memoir has served me as what memoirist and life coach Martha Beck calls “a soul teacher” in her fascinating book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self.
While Beck’s concept of a book as a “soul teacher” resonates with me, Frankl’s memoir can also serve as what writing instructors call a “mentor text” to help memoirists with their craft. At Modern Memoirs, we often work with writers who wish to provide encouragement and inspiration to their loved ones by sharing their own life stories. When this includes writing about loss and trauma they’ve endured, they may worry about overburdening their readers with too much sadness or pain. Frankl’s memoir can provide inspiration in such cases by demonstrating how writing about the most vulnerable and painful parts of our lives can reveal our very humanity, offering readers not burdens, but solace in their own search for meaning.
If you have not read Frankl’s memoir, I hope you will be inspired to do so after reading the passage I’ve shared here. Whether it serves you as a soul teacher, a mentor text, or both, it has so very much to offer.
Megan St. Marie
President
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A Passage from
Viktor E. Frankl’s
Man’s Search for Meaning
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth—that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which a man can aspire.
Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for the brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way—an honorable way—in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.
For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”
Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.
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The Dignity Index as a Revision Tool
by Director of Publishing Ali de Groot
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Conflict? Assumptions? Blame? Polarization? Try The Dignity Index. The Dignity Index is a way to analyze speech and to use words thoughtfully and with respect, especially when in conflict. Developed by leaders in the field of behavioral science, politics, and communication and initially used for analyzing public speeches, The Dignity Index website states the following goals:
- Ease Divisions
- Prevent Violence
- Solve Problems
According to the site, The Dignity Index is “an 8-point scale that measures what we do when we disagree. Each scale point represents a particular mindset toward the other side, ranging from #1 – which sees no dignity at all in the other side – to #8, which sees the dignity in everyone, no matter what.” Rather than being a scorecard, although it looks like one, it is meant to be a reflective tool: when we pay attention to dignity and contempt, we are apt to employ more dignity and less contempt.
Although it wasn’t developed for memoirists per se, this respectful, practical approach can be readily applied to any writer’s toolbox. It is especially helpful when writing about events or people about which one has strong negative feelings—don’t we all have some of those in our lives? How do we write or speak about them? Do we want to perpetuate the negativity and division, or is there perhaps another way to write the story that is still accurate yet fair?
The Dignity Index can make a positive difference in our communication, be it verbal or written. See for yourself. Check out these resources and find one that will help in your arena, whether professional or personal.
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How Poetry Slams Set Me Free as a Writer
by Cecelia Allentuck
“I came to accept that the point of writing, practicing, performing, losing, and trying again was to challenge myself and others. To find inspiration and make lasting connections. To become the best version of myself, even if there was no medal to name me a winner.”
This blog post wraps up Cecelia’s time as the summer 2025 publishing intern at Modern Memoirs, Inc. We thank her for her terrific work and wish her well as she returns to St. Andrews University in Scotland this fall.
| | | Featured Blog Posts by Our Staff | | |
Reflections from Client Jay K. Musoff
By Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg
“Each year since my dad has been gone, I reread the book on his birthday.”
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Put Your Family History in Writing
By Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg
“To others the Denlinger Cemetery may be just a jumbled mix of broken and still-standing gravestones hidden in a tangle of trees and weeds at the far intersection of four cornfields in rural Pennsylvania, but this place felt sacred to me. And as we stood there, I couldn’t help but think: I wouldn’t have known about any of this if someone hadn’t written it down.”
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Thoughts in Motion: A Collection of Essays by Mary Alice Dillman (2022) |
Read, Then Write
By Director of Publishing Ali de Groot
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Do you like to read? Imagine the quantity of books you will have read upon 90 years of age! My father, at age 97, goes to the local library every two or three weeks, heads directly to his favorite section (the 900s call numbers—history/geography), inspects the floor-to-ceiling shelves (“I’ve read all these,” he says, pointing to the top four rows), and simply takes out the book next to the one he just finished.
It might be enlightening to chronicle one’s reading life. Thoughts in Motion, a book of selected essays by nonagenarian Mary Alice Dillman, does just this. It not only highlights the most important books she’s read, but through them, illuminates her worldview and reflections on life. A repeat client, Dillman had already self-published a memoir with us (Gratitude, 2012) when she submitted her essays, and they represent a very different approach to writing about one’s life. But compelling nonetheless.
Capped with a 10-page bibliography, the essays in this collection include her reading and research of such notable individuals as Thomas Jefferson, Edward Coles, Sojourner Truth, John Steinbeck, Norman Mailer, Lorraine Hansberry, Scott Russell Sanders, Anne Lamott, Mitch Albom, and Danielle Allen, to name a few. In her introduction, Dillman sums up her goals:
These essays are a legacy of writing into my ninetieth year of life…. Ultimately, writing has been my search for inner truth within myself…. The essays reflect my thoughts and values. My purpose in writing and publishing them will have been achieved if the reader finds pleasure in reading them, gains knowledge about a variety of subjects, ponders the ideas, and feels inspired to read more.
Thus, I humbly summarize: It’s never too late to pick up a book… or write a book.
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