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How are intrapsychic and interpersonal obstacles and traumas, social, environmental, political, and historical catastrophes and challenges metabolized by the human psyche? While most of us would prefer not to think about pain and injustice, at some point, most, if not all, of us are forced to deal with disappointment, hardship, loss, and physical and/or psychological suffering. Polly Young-Eisendrath's book sets out to examine these issues and how to move beyond them.
The Resilient Spirit is comprised of six “parts” or main chapter headings: “The Gifts,” “Suffering and Compassion,” “Some Advantages of a Difficult Childhood,” “Letting the Self Die,” “An Ethic of Suffering,” and “Lessons.” Each of these is divided into several subheadings. The thrust of the book traverses the positive effects of suffering and loss and their transformation into “hope and meaning” (p. 3). The tone of the writing is informal, at times almost chatty, as though to enable readers to resonate with their personal stories that may be connected to similar ones recounted in the book. Thus, the author makes no attempts at indepth scholarship, although she occasionally makes references in passing to a number of theorists, seeming to choose a writing style that reflects and emphasizes her deeply held personal beliefs. Dr. Young-Eisendrath informs us in the opening pages that “during childhood, I was often confronted with misery and conflict … when I was an adolescent, I discovered my life's work,” a search for reasons and cures for emotional and relational suffering … I've benefited from a difficult childhood” (p. 1). While it may be to her credit to be as candid as she appears to be about her own background and misfortunes, the book would fare better if there was more attention paid to alternative ways of understanding the dynamics and consequences of suffering with less focus on biographical and autobiographical material.
The author's often repeated polemic maintains that suffering can be