Hello INPM community! My name is Jeremy Forsythe and I am thrilled to join this incredible research community. Let me tell you a bit about myself. In 2016, I earned my Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto. As an undergraduate, I developed an interest for studying all things psychology and philosophy. One topic that I’ve become increasingly fascinated by is the relationship between people’s worldviews and vulnerability to mental illness. Currently, I am pursuing a Master’s of Arts in clinical psychology at York University. My current research foci are scale development, meaning in life, and wellbeing. In 2021, I co-founded a graduate lab for research in existential psychology at York University, aptly named The ABYSS Lab. Under the tutelage of Dr. Myriam Mongrain, The ABYSS Lab hopes to conduct novel research into how our relationships with the givens of existence (i.e., birth, death, freedom of choice, isolation, meaning in life, and suffering) shape our psychological wellbeing and worldview.
Aside from academia, I have a passion for writing, painting (one of which is displayed in my picture), and walking. I am in the, admittedly strenuous, process of publishing two finished creative pieces: an anthology of aphorisms and poems entitled The Second Sun, and an existential novel entitled The Gaillardia Bouquet. The former project appeals to contemporary attention spans by bite-sizing philosophical ideas into easily consumable chunks. The latter project follows the life of a depressed man who discovers solace from his mental suffering in the phenomenon of beauty and does what he can to teach others about his epiphanies. My hope is to one day reach a broader audience with my writing, aiming to respectfully convince others that existence is, all things considered, a good place.
Thank you for reading my brief introduction! To sign off, I will leave you with an aphorism:
Trace the lines of intense,
passionate existence.
The good life truly does
take on the simplest shape.