Posted by Derf on June 27, 1999 at 15:20:48:
In Reply to: Re: being a healthy 4; to the extent that I am posted by Ev on June 27, 1999 at 12:48:47:
I was thinking about the crucial differences between average and healthy 4 the other day. Here's a rough sketch of what I reasoned out.
Note: this list is not an attempt to either measure or confirm *my own* health. There's a difference between idealization and actual self-mastery.
Average: I am stuck to the past, and look with hopeful ambivalence at a cloudy future - this is my business.
Healthy: I reveal myself moment-by-moment - this is my business.
Average: I appreciate others insofar as they can affirm my idealized notions of self and life.
Healthy: Since I appreciate others without burdening self-reference, my appreciation is both broader and deeper.
Average: I am not like others. I actively seek to be different, for the sake of being different in itself.
Healthy: Whether I am like others is of secondary concern; primarily, I consider myself tactful, tasteful, and spiritually enthusiastic.
Unhealthy: I yearn for the little trappings of the external world, and for external self-distinguishment.
Average: I yearn for enlightenment. Someday I will attain it.
Healthy: I am on the path of enlightenment. It never ends, though I am enriched constantly.
Comments are always welcomed. Filfre!
-Derf