Valuing Solitude

“The fates guide him who will; him who won’t, they drag.” — Ancient Greeks Wu Wei means “The Watercourse Way,” another way of saying “the path of least resistance,” or “following the Tao.” While your inner refraction of the Tao may cause you to have to overcome great resistance in the outer world, at other times following the Tao does, indeed, involve taking the path of least resistance and adapting to outer circumstances. The way Taoism is presented almost everywhere gives a false impression that following the Tao means passively adapting to the vicissitudes of the outer world. But the aspect of the Tao that is most important to follow is your inner refraction of it, which can appear as what Aleister Crowley called your “True Will.” You need to follow your deepest inner enthusiasms and intuitions, and sometimes this may mean overcoming fierce resistance in the outside world. You can tell when the ego is trying to lead (rather than the True Will) when there are annoying thought tape loops in the foreground of consciousness — But what if I do this?, but what if this happens?, but what if that happens? The ego-led mind keeps ricocheting back and [...]

This card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as a privation and hardship. We are social mammals and research by Seligman and others has shown that people universally report being happier when other people are around. In solitude, many people become more subject to psychic entropy — a chaotic state of negative thought loops and emotions. Most psychopathology — eating disorder behavior, for example, happens in solitude which is also where people contemplate suicide, etc. Even people who say they prefer solitude report being happier when in the company of others. But what makes us happier in the short run is not always what we need for our development or to do our most important work. Sometimes I may bring my laptop to coffee shops and work on various tasks there. The presence of other people, even though I rarely relate to them, is a social stimulant. Like a cup of espresso, part of my brain lights up as I recognize different human types and overhear fragments of conversation. [...]

This card may indicate a propitious time for solitary, difficult inner study. The path of individuation can feel isolating, but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that this card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as a privation and hardship. We are [...]

The path of individuation can feel isolating, but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that this card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as a privation and hardship. We are social mammals and research by Seligman and others has shown that people [...]

Loneliness can be circumstantial, but it can also be a mind set, a false belief that we are alone in our minds/psyches. This is an artificial capsule we create around ourselves, when actually, like the boy in the photo, we are never alone. Often it is better to endure loneliness than to be part of a faceless crowd. The path of individuation can feel isolating,but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island, we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that [...]

Loneliness. Often it is better to endure loneliness than to be part of a faceless crowd. The path of individuation can feel isolating, but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that this card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as a privation [...]

Accept the isolation of the conscious self. Beneath the surface there are always roots connecting you to others. The path of individuation can feel isolating, but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that this card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as [...]

The path of individuation can feel isolating, or even iceolating. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it is possible that this card may indicate a propitious time for solitude. Solitude and togetherness with others are two of the main variables that our lives need to fluctuate between. Many people undervalue the solitary side of the spectrum and experience it as a privation and hardship. We are social mammals and research by Seligman and others has shown that people universally report being happier when other people are around. In solitude, many people become more [...]

It is not unusual for a conscious, individualized person to feel like a stranger in a strange land. There is much in the Babylon Matrix that is strange and disaffecting. Recognize the feelings, have compassion for them, but face them like a Warrior. If we can avoid self-pity there is much to learn from being a stranger in a strange land. The path of individuation can feel isolating, but some relative seclusion can be extremely developmental, giving you the space to discover and unfold your individuality. It is true that the more you work on yourself the fewer will be the people you can relate to as full equals. Don’t fall into self-pity or victimhood about this. No person is an island; we are all floating in the same ocean of consciousness. The path of individuation may sometimes be lonely, but being lost in a crowd of acquaintances is also lonely and worse in all sorts of ways. Follow your individual path, accept the partial isolation and you may discover that it leads you to spiritual allies following their own individual paths to a place where many paths and errands meet. Though you may not feel good about it, it [...]

Romantic fantasies often become like a spell or an enchantment that can put us to sleep or freeze up our lives for long seasons of unfulfilled desire. The fantasy becomes like the thick plate-glass window of a storefront. Inside the window is the glittering bauble, the Hottie, Mr.or Miss Right, the romantic fantasy — which may be interpersonal or some other great fantasy we have not fulfilled — and we are like the hungry street urchin, our gaze forever mesmerized by the unobtainable precious inside the store. Some never awaken from the spell or enchantment. In Dickens’ Great Expectations, one of the main characters is Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who had been stood up at the altar. Although the betrayal happened decades before we meet her, she remains wedded to her disappointed romantic fantasy and flits about her darkened house in her faded wedding dress, the decaying wedding feast still on the table, and all the clocks stopped at twenty minutes to nine (the time she learned of the betrayal). Film versions of the novel have portrayed her as very elderly, but Dicken’s notes indicate that she is only in her mid-fifties. Her stillborn life away from sunlight has [...]