Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

The 111 Files: We all need to feel connected

By Inspector Bruce Horne
Rotorua Daily Post·
5 Aug, 2015 02:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A sense of purpose is a building block to a better community.

A sense of purpose is a building block to a better community.

Two of the most deadly things for the human soul are being ignored and being excluded.

We all have this inbuilt need to be connected to others, to have a sense that our lives count for something.

Everyone needs to know that their life has meaning.

When people feel isolated, when hope is lost, when people can no longer see a purpose for their life - life loses its meaning and the outcome is deadly.

No one understood this better than Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who was imprisoned in a Nazi death camp during WWII. It was in that crucible of cruelty, despair and human suffering that he developed and tested his theory of logotherapy. The cornerstone of logotherapy is the simple idea that everyone needs to have a purpose for living. When people no longer have any sense of purpose, or meaning, they lose the will to live.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Frankl helped many of his fellow prisoners survive the horrors of the death camps by helping them see that even when everything they had valued had been taken from them, including their closest family, they could still carry on by finding a sense of purpose for their lives. For some prisoners this purpose was - incredibly - nothing more than to endure suffering with dignity. Frankl would later write that if someone has a "why", they can survive any "how".

About a year after he was liberated in 1945, Frankl wrote a short book titled Man's search for meaning. It is now officially listed as one of the 10 most influential books in the United States.

It has been re-printed numerous times and remains an international bestseller. At the time of the release of the most recent edition in 2006, more than 12 million copies had been sold worldwide.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I mention this because I am working through a series on what it takes to build a sense of community.

Social scientists say there are four pillars to a healthy community - membership, influence, integration and shared emotional connection. Last week I summarised the concept of "membership". This week I will begin unpacking "influence".

"Influence" in this context is about having a sense that your life matters; an idea that is very similar to the Maori concepts of "mauri ora" (life) and "mana".

Mana. It's a little word that carries a huge amount of meaning and embodies a number of important ideas.

Discover more

The 111 Files: People's sense of connection grows

01 Jul 02:00 AM

The 111 Files: Serving others will make you happier

15 Jul 02:30 AM

The 111 Files: Safety first for communities

22 Jul 02:00 AM

The 111 Files: Small deeds make big impact

29 Jul 02:00 AM

In Maoridom, almost every activity has a link to the concepts of mana and tapu (spirituality). Mana is not just about authority, prestige and power but also authenticity, effectiveness and stewardship. People with the greatest "mana" are frequently those who serve others the most.

In other words, mana is not about power and control, but serving and influence.

More on this next week. In the meantime, ka kite ano.

-Inspector Bruce Horne is the Rotorua police area commander.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

12 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM

The couple were walking home when Mark Kimber sped through an intersection and hit them.

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM
No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

12 Jul 06:00 PM
Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP