in the occupational science literature (Aguilar, Boerema, & Harrison, 2009; Hocking, 1994; Ikiugu, 2005; Kumar, 2010; Rozario, 1994; Shank & Cutchin, 2010). However, the constructs of life meaning, meaninglessness, meaningful occupation, etc. have not been clearly defined in the occupational therapy and occupational science literature. Similarly, the question of how individuals can be assisted to structure their occupational lives in order to enhance meaning in their lives has not been adequately answered. In order to meet the challenge posed by Hawking, Murphy, and others, we have to negotiate with people to facilitate their full access to participation and the pursuit of the important goals to which they aspire in their lives. Meaningful occupational performance may be one way of doing this.
Meaningful occupational performance is, as Seibers (2008) writes, a functional challenge especially for people with disabilities. For such people, meaningful occupational performance means
living] with their disability, to come to know their body, to accept what it can do, and to keep doing what they can for as long as they can. (p. 69)
Initially Seibers’ statement seems to be offensive, a point which he acknowledges. However, he goes on to explain that for people with disabilities to be properly represented in social discourse, they have to be recognized as who they really are, even as we recognize that the needs of every disabled person cannot be addressed, because there are neither the remedies nor the resources. If we recognize a need to mediate Frankl’s problem of meaninglessness, we have to recognize that it is a problem which cuts across all demographics in a society which disables. The problem of meaninglessness in the sense suggested by Frankl is experienced by all people including those excluded from society due to disability. As Snyder and Mitchell (2006) point out, the basis of this exclusion is paradoxically located in the notion of individual equality. The idea inherent in the construct of equality is that we are all equal in this society. Unfortunately some are unable to participate fully because their disabilities prevent them from doing so. In that case, the answer is therapy and occupational therapy in particular.
Where does this leave occupational therapists? Perhaps a beginning point may be recognizing that while there is a range of technical skills, strategies, and interventions with which they can address the needs of people with disabilities, they (and all their multidisciplinary colleagues) may not have answers. Consequently, they have to navigate to a solution by working with their clients rather than patronizing them. This denotes that client-centeredness has to be critically explored as a way for occupational therapists as professionals to work in collaboration with their clients to optimize availability of resources to enable clients participate fully in society. If they are to employ a concept like meaningful occupation, occupational therapists have to be clear about what they mean by meaningfulness. An attempt will be made to explore this construct from multiple perspectives in the rest of this book.
Organization of the book
The book can be conceptualized as consisting of four parts:
1. Foundational knowledge about meaningfulness/meaninglessness;
2. The role of occupations in meaning-making;
3. Guidelines for action to facilitate meaning-making through occupational performance; and
4. Thoughts about the future of occupational therapy and occupational science in helping people construct meaningful lives by contributing to the solution of pressing global issues through occupation-based initiatives.
To navigate towards a solution of meaninglessness in peoples’ lives, occupational therapists must also develop a useful framework that they can use to guide their clients in meaning-making through occupational performance. This book is designed to contribute towards meeting these objectives. Its purpose is to help occupational therapists and occupational scientists think of new ways of applying their knowledge of the nature, form, and function of occupation to help all people, not only the sick and disabled, develop strategies to overcome their existential vacuum and in the process, resolve either the problem of meaninglessness in their lives or recognize and begin to address the social origins of the experience of meaninglessness. It is hoped that this book will offer occupational therapists and occupational scientists useful guidelines that they can use to be effective consultants in helping people orchestrate daily occupations in such a way that their work, self-care, and leisure occupations contribute towards an experience of positive emotions, creation of positive identities, connection to something larger than themselves, and ultimately towards experiences of life as optimally meaningful.
Part 1
In chapter one, we examine the definition of meaningfulness from multiple perspectives. The purpose of the chapter is to help clarify what the constructs meaningfulness and meaninglessness precisely mean, so that as therapists using the book help people organize their occupations to enhance meaning in their lives, they are able to identify indicators of meaningfulness that they can use to measure the effectiveness of chosen strategies.
However, an intellectual definition of meaningfulness is not enough. It is important to find out what people perceive to be meaningful in their lives. To achieve that objective, we analyzed autobiographies published by a community of “worker writers” in England using heuristic interpretive methods, with a view to teasing out what these individuals perceived to be the meaning of their lives and how they saw their daily occupations contributing to that meaning. Our findings of the analysis are reported in chapter 2. By understanding the experienced phenomenon of meaningfulness/meaninglessness as described by “worker writers”, we set the stage in this chapter for the content discussed in subsequent chapters.
Based on Frankl’s (1992) postulation that meaning in life derives from love for someone or something, creative activity, appreciation of beauty and art, connection to something larger than ourselves, and moral integrity, in chapter three, we embark on an exploration of how human beings have gone about, through the ages, searching for meaning in their lives. Frankl suggested that part of the cause of the existential vacuum in our times was disconnection from the natural environment and from traditions, including religious practices. Therefore, in chapter three we examine how culture and social norms, religion, and philosophical and scientific inquiry, are used by many people as vessels to convey them to an experience of meaning in their lives. This theme is continued in chapter four where we examine how occupations fit into meaning-making endeavors by grounding one in culture, religion, and social life.
Part 2
In the second part of the book (consisting of chapter 5), we explore the notion of occupations as media for meaning-making in life. We bring all the constructs discussed in the book together by examining how occupations are used as means of meaning-making by helping people develop the needed skills and accomplish developmental tasks at each stage of life. We also discuss how these occupations are grounded in the vehicles of meaning (culture, religion, social life, and philosophical/scientific inquiry) as discussed in chapter 3.
Part 3
In the third part of the book, consisting of chapter 6, we present a framework that can be used to guide individuals in structuring their occupations so as to optimize the sense of meaning in their lives.
Part 4
Finally,
