October 2020 Newsletter

Hello, and an over-arching October to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about solitude and being with others. Enjoy!

"No man (or woman) is an island", they say. As a child I would have loved being an island, since most other people made me uncomfortable, if not downright frightened. This little girl absorbed in reading a book could have been me in my Happy Place. Yet although I'll probably always cherish my solitude, as I've grown I've come to value interaction with others more than ever.

The current pandemic, with its enforced social distancing and many folks working from home or attending school on-line, has upended our usual idea of togetherness. Now gatherings of more than a few people could be seen as dangerous, causing the more outgoing and sociable among us to feel lonely and isolated, cut off from human contact. Are you happier interacting in person less, finding it more peaceful? Or do you miss being with other people, and those sometimes raucous get-togethers?

On-line meetings over Zoom or Skype or FaceTime have replaced many traditional family face-to-face events, as well as business meetings. This is a mixed blessing, since you can't hug Grandma when she's on a screen or smell her comforting lavender fragrance. And you also don't have to commute to your office and get all dressed up to participate in that conference when only your face and the top part of your body will be visible.

People need other people; we are social creatures. We learn from each other, and we help one another. We need solitary time to think our own thoughts free of interruption too. How is the balance of time alone vs. time with others playing out for you now? I like to write, which I can only do well in solitude. Then when I share what I've written with others, and especially when someone else responds, I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

The complaints about "Zoom fatigue" aren't just about too much screen time, to me. They're also about too much forced time around others. Do you need to attend every single on-line meeting, or every single family on-screen event? Similarly, you may be spending too much time alone, starting to fall into a destructive pattern like over-eating, digging yourself a hole it will be difficult to climb out of.

As is true in many areas of Life, balance is the goal, a balance of activity and rest, of work and play, of solitude and of time around other humans. Where are you on this continuum -- do you need to connect more with others, or disconnect a bit to connect with yourself? Check in with your feelings to tell whether you're spending too much time alone, craving human interaction, or you're overwhelmed with meetings and on-line chatter. Only you know what's right for your peace of mind, and only you can get that for yourself.

For an article on vision being about connecting (or not!), click here.

Have you wondered if my work could help you?
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Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the beginning of this outstanding month of October. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!