Arctic Search for Meaning

Lived experiences of a life good enough, despite everything.

Book cover of A Good Life Despite Everything: Practical Wisdom from Philosophy, Psychology and Neuroscience by Jukka Packalén.

New book: A Good Life Despite Everything

Is a good enough life possible — not despite suffering, but with it fully in view? A Good Life Despite Everything says yes, and shows how.

It offers a coherent, holistic philosophical view of the human condition, with practical “Try This” exercises throughout. Philosopher and psychologist Lauri Rauhala’s existential-phenomenological thinking is the foundation of this journey. Viktor Frankl’s philosophy of life is the heart. Internal Family Systems and Polyvagal Theory complete the picture, illuminating our psychological dynamics and the nervous system that underlie all our experiences. A closing chapter on situationality brings it all back to the particulars of a single human life.

This is not an easy self-help book, but a serious inquiry, of practical use for those willing to take responsibility for how they meet their life.

What’s inside:

A foundation in Lauri Rauhala’s holistic philosophy — body, consciousness, and situation as one interwoven whole
Ten meditations on Viktor Frankl’s philosophy of meaning, from free will to tragic optimism to the will to meaning itself
A practical introduction to Internal Family Systems, and how to begin an inner dialogue conducive to living a more balanced life
An accessible guide to Polyvagal Theory and the nervous system states that shape daily life
A closing chapter on putting it all into practice — in your daily routines, your environment, your relationships, and your place in the wider world

Read a free sample, including Sabine Indinger’s foreword in full →

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