Crisitunity: Noun. A Chinese word referred to by Homer Simpson that means both crisis and opportunity.
No, this is not an article on The Simpsons – but, arguably like many of life’s lessons, the concept of Crisitunity is one that comes from a Simpsons episode, after Lisa explains to Homer that Chinese people use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity (Homer then goes on to amalgamate these two words into the wonderful hybrid, Crisitunity). After a small bit of research, it appears that, unfortunately, it is not actually the case that the same symbol is used for both words in the Chinese alphabet. Disappointment that this is not a wonderfully poetic and philosophical truth is understandable; however, something important can still be taken away from Lisa’s well-intentioned lesson. And that’s what this article is about: taking away something from a situation, or more specifically, carving out purpose and meaning from a situation.
What The Simpsons were trying to get across was the idea that, put simply, something good can come out of something bad. That if, instead of viewing challenging situations as crises, we viewed them as opportunities (for learning, growth, gain…), we would be able to turn a negative into a positive. Now, this is perhaps a bit too simplistic of an idea – we might not always be able to turn a negative situation into a positive one. Sometimes really terrible things can happen to us that don’t seem to have a silver lining, and looking for such an outcome might even feel invalidating or dismissing, especially if the situation has been particularly impactful.
It might not be possible to flip a negative situation into a positive one, particularly early on – but what if we tried to take some sort of meaning from the situation? Carving out meaning from a situation doesn’t mean putting on rose-coloured sunglasses and telling ourselves that everything is great; it means taking away something meaningful from the situation, which hopefully can help us to learn for future situations, help us to help others in similar situations, or simply just help us to feel a little bit comforted, in the face of adversity or pain.
It is the idea of not being able to control or choose what happens to you, but being able to control or choose your attitude and how you react or respond to the situation – something that Viktor Frankl, renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, wrote about in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning. In the book, which chronicles his experiences in Nazi death camps and illustrates the development of a type existential psychotherapy known as logotherapy, Frankl describes how he believes that the search for meaning is one’s primary motivational force in life, and how anyone, in any circumstance, no matter how awful, can find meaning, and can thus find reasons to continue living. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl wrote, “when we are no longer able to change a situation…we are challenged to change ourselves”. This perfectly captures this existential approach of finding meaning in situations, even horrific situations, and using this meaning to live a more fulfilling life.
Another prolific influence in existential and psychological theory and writing is Irvin Yalom, a psychotherapist and psychiatrist. Yalom believes that human beings are meaning-seeking creatures, but that they are faced with the dilemma of being in a universe that ultimately has no meaning. While this may sound counter-intuitive to the conversation of finding meaning, Yalom suggests that humans can face up to the meaninglessness of their existence by carving out their own meaning, for example through creativity, dedication to a cause, or acts of altruism. In his book, Existential Psychotherapy, Yalom wrote that “the belief that one has deciphered meaning always brings with it a sense of mastery”. Therefore, it would of course make sense that we seek meaning in life, as doing so will take us from a place of helplessness and powerlessness, to a place of control and mastery.
Perhaps by taking on board some of Frankl’s and Yalom’s (and of course Homer’s) teachings, we can aim to find meaning in the situations that we encounter in life, in particular painful or difficult situations. One way to do this might simply be telling ourselves that we cannot always control the situation that we are in, but we can control how we respond to the situation. As difficult as a certain situation may be, we do have a choice when it comes to how we react to it – and the fact that this choice exists demonstrates that we have mastery, and that we are not helpless.
Another way might involve asking ourselves about the different ways in which we can take meaning from a situation. Can I make this an opportunity for growth, where I have learned something important about myself, which I can bring with me into future situations? Can I be creative and actually transform my pain from the situation into a work of art? Can I use this as an opportunity to help others in an altruistic manner?
This is of course easier said than done, especially when faced with extremely adverse or painful conditions – but we really do have choices in life, and there really can be benefits from carving out our own personal meanings from difficult circumstances. Furthermore, when has Homer Simpson ever steered us wrong?
For more on this topic, you can read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (1984) (New York, NY: Washington Square Press), or Existential Psychotherapy by Irvin Yalom (1980) (New York, NY: Basic Books).
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