On loneliness, the fear of being seen, and the courage to belong There is a particular kind of loneliness that does not announce itself. It does not arrive when you are alone in a room. It arrives at the dinner table, in the middle of a conversation, at the party where you are laughing at the right moments. It is the loneliness of being present in body while something essential in you remains carefully, strategically withheld. Most of us have learned to do this so well that w

Most of us move through the world fairly identified with who we think we are. But every so often, in a moment of unexpected stillness, something shifts. A reflection on personal identity, mystical experience, and what it means to wear our roles a little more loosely.