Eleanor Smith

Doctoral Researcher | Existential Psychotherapist

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

These encounters can be truly life changing.

[Dr. Linda Berman @LindaBerman4]

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

What's happening here is that we have grown strangely uncomfortable with the idea that some people choose darkness.

Think of the stories that dominate entertainment now - almost no one is allowed to be evil on their own terms. Every villain has a prequel and an origin story. Maleficent is no longer the fairy who curses a child out of wounded pride; she is a woman whose wings were stolen.

The Wicked Witch of the West is not the terror of Oz; she is Elphaba, "othered" and failed by the system that raised her. Cruella is given a cruel mother. Even the Joker's brokenness and nihilism have become stylish and cool.

Basically no one is the author of his/her own deeds. Every person is a passive buoy, haplessly floating on the water surface, swept by the tides of circumstance and the currents of history.

Yeah of course it's true that all of us are shaped by forces larger than ourselves. But society is now over-indexing on those forces such that explaining how someone arrived at evil has turned into explaining the evil away.

By insisting that wickedness is downstream of some prior injustice, we relocate responsibility outside of the self. Which is why so much energy is poured into what Lindsay Clancy's doctors missed, what medicines she was prescribed, her husband's failures, her postpartum chemistry, etc.

So we're now left with a culture that can explain everything and confront almost nothing.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@MsMelChen Absolutely spot on.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

100% but I also think some marriages fall short in that they create an echo chamber system where conflict replaces real change. It's important to strike a balance. If someone is just staying with someone and fighting them so they don't have to improve for anyone else what even is that?

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

I like this.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

Justice is very important for a society's sense of wellbeing. It seems our human groups need our sense of right and wrong to be assisted by carefully determined laws and principles and whilst we can try to assert our own moral compass, it is often informed and influenced by various factors whether we like to believe so or not. To believe and feel our fellow citizens are good, and to hold ourselves to similar standards, prevents resentment and a decline in our sense of duty to the other. We need clarity on justice and virtue within our expanding societies to prevent total collapse and aid progress.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@ChrisWillx @AdamLaneSmith In many ways I agree but would tread carefully. There is a lot that can move someone to depression and powerlessness and helplessness is not always it - male or female.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@JDaviesPhD Philosophy.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

This lady tells 1 year of studying quantum physics in under 60 seconds:

Quantum physics isn't just science; it's logical spirituality.

[Dr. Linda Berman @LindaBerman4]

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

Pema Chödrön

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@Jasonhan110 @ML_Philosophy Agreed. Encountering people like this is inevitable. It is also inevitable that we can be them at times to others. Humility, acceptance of complexity and handling emotions is crucial.

[Dr. Linda Berman @LindaBerman4]

It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror.

James Baldwin

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@spookyxxboobs Sadly it's still too warm outside. There are no grey clouds and hardly any rain.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@SteveStuWill 😨

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@ShiningScience Sometimes I wonder if science is ever really meant to fully understand altered states of consciousness. Maybe they just need to do the psychedelics to understand that they maybe don't need to understand and thats a visceral remedy to many mental ailments. Learning to let go.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@PhilOfLife_ This is quite valid. Perhaps change romantic obsession for all types of fantasy and it would be more appropriate. Fantasy distracts from action which leads to the development of meaning and purpose (and acceptance of reality).

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@thesupermanmx Oh dear.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

The Wizard of the Kremlin is really rather good after you see past Jude Law's whimsical portrayal of Putin. Highly recommended.

[Eleanor Smith @existentialele]

@hexesandspell 😂