In this article I present some reflections on my experience of the process of wresting meaning from meaninglessness. My reflections are both personal and scholarly in that I trace my own experience of struggling with meaning-making and attempt to illuminate them with reference to published work, drawing on concepts from existentialist philosophy in particular. Much of what is contained in this article is based upon reflections recorded in my personal diary written during the process of being diagnosed with cancer. As such, the article itself constitutes an example of the kind of writing that this special section is concerned with. I quote verbatim from my diary throughout this article in order to demonstrate the process of meaning-making through writing.
Bolton, G. (Ed.). (2007). Dying, bereavement and the healing arts. London: Jessica Kingsley.
2.
Bolton, G., Howlett, S., Lago, C., & Wright, J. K. (Eds.). (2004). Writing cures: An introductory handbook of writing in counselling and therapy. London : Routledge.
3.
Cohn, H.W. (2002). Heidegger and the roots of existential therapy . London: Continuum.
4.
Crossley, M. (2000). Rethinking health psychology. Buckingham: Open University Press.
5.
Duncan, D. (1998). Solemn geographies: AIDS and the contours of autobiography . In K. Chedgzoy & M. Pratt (Eds.), Queer bodies. London: Cassell.
6.
Du Plock, S. (2008). Living ME: Some reflections on the experience of being diagnosed with a chronic `psychosomatic' illness. Existential Analysis, 19(1), 46-57.
7.
Esterling, B.A., L'Abate, L., Murray, E.J., & Pennebaker, J.W. (1999). Empirical foundations for writing in prevention and psychotherapy: Mental and physical health outcomes . Clinical Psychology Review, 19(1), 79-96.
8.
Frank, A.W. (1995). The wounded storyteller. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
9.
Frankl, V. (1962). Man's search for meaning. New York: Simon & Schuster.
10.
Grossman, D. (2007). The writing cure. Guardian Review , 19 May, p. 21.
11.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. Trans. J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
12.
Heidegger, M. (1976). Einleitung zu `Was ist Metaphysik?' Der Rueckgang in den Grund der Metaphysik (1949). In Wegmarken, vol. 9 of the Heidegger Gesamtausgabe, p. 374.
13.
Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and time. Trans. J. Stambaugh. Albany, NY: SUNY Press (the page references are to the German text and appear in the margins of this translation).
14.
Hunt, C. (2000). Therapeutic dimensions of autobiography in creative writing. London: Jessica Kingsley .
15.
Hunt, C., & Sampson, F. (Eds.). (2002). The self on the page: Theory and practice of creative writing in personal development. London: Jessica Kingsley.
16.
Janoff-Bulman, R., & Frantz, C. (1997). The impact of trauma on meaning: From meaningless world to meaningful life. In M. J. Power & C. R. Brewin (Eds.), The transformation of meaning in psychological therapies: Integrating theory and practice (pp. 91-106). New York: Wiley .
17.
Lupton, D. (1994). Medicine as culture: Illness, disease and the body in western societies. London: SAGE.
18.
Lupton, D. (1995). The imperative of health: Public health and the regulated body. London: SAGE.
19.
Mulhall, S. (1996). Heidegger and `Being and time'. London: Routledge.
20.
Philips, D., Penman, D., & Linnington, L. (1999). Writing well: Creative writing and mental health. London : Jessica Kingsley.
Silverman, D. (1989). Making sense of a precipice: Constituting identity in an HIV clinic. In AIDS: Social representations, social practices (pp. 101-126). Lewes: The Falmer Press.
23.
Stacey, J. (1997). Teratologies: A cultural study of cancer. London: Routledge.
24.
Van Deurzen, E. (1998). Paradox and passion in psychotherapy: An existential approach to therapy and counselling. Chichester: Wiley.
25.
Yalom, I.D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
