Newborn & Three and a Half Year Old Feet

“Everything can be taken from a man but … the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
–Viktor Frankl

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Hunter & Gage at Newborn & Three and a Half

Don’t you just love baby feet?  Here is the painted version of my great nephews’ feet.

Viktor Emil Frankl (March 26, 1905 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. He was the founder of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, the “Third Viennese School” of psychotherapy. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning, chronicled his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding a reason to live. Frankl’s own survival, and his insights into what allows human beings to survive the most intolerable and inhumane conditions, have inspired people worldwide for decades. Finding his “will to meaning” gave Frankl the power to overcome the horrors of the death camp, and his writings express the key component of true human nature: Love.

Wales Building in Color – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Sharpie

“Between Stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
–Victor Frankl



Wales Building in Color – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Sharpie

I love today’s quote!  Yesterday I had a huge stimulus called computer problems.  My chosen response was to get in my jeep and head to Staples in McAlester.  I knew the jeep would make me happy, Staples would make me happy and I wouldn’t feel so powerless if I bought some computer related “offering” to the Computer Gods.  I bought a new wireless keyboard and mouse that were on sale.  I also turned in 15 used ink cartridges for a $3 credit each.  Since McAlester is a 30 minute drive, I was calm and collected when I returned.  The computer was still messed up, but by 4:30 that afternoon, I had it working again.  My new favorite phrase: Restore Point. 

This was painted from a photo reference by JustJean at WetCanvas.  The building was all gray, but the resolution was really good.  I could swear I saw a computer printer in that bay window.

Viktor Frankl was born in Vienna on March 26, 1905. His father, Gabriel Frankl, was a strong, disciplined man from Moravia who worked his way from government stenographer to become the director of the Ministry of Social Service. His mother, Elsa Frankl (née Lion), was more tenderhearted, a pious woman from Prague.

The middle of three children, young Viktor was precocious and intensely curious. Even at the tender age of four, he already knew that he wanted to be a physician.

In high school, Viktor was actively involved in the local Young Socialist Workers organization. His interest in people turned him towards the study of psychology. He finished his high school years with a psychoanalytic essay on the philosopher Schopenhauer, a publication in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and the beginning of a rather intense correspondence with the great Sigmund Freud.  Source:  http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/frankl.html