I found meaning in everything around me – the people I cared for, the jobs I did, the organizations I belonged to…I forgot to look inside.

When all of those things are stripped away and I am left in the disconcerting silence, pondering who I am, the urge grips me to just busy myself with something else. Find meaning in that.

But not this time.

I have been happily trying to make sense of this “alone” time, using it as best I can to learn how to help my students, stick to my little routines of health and fitness, and do a bit more reading than I usually have time for.  

But in the midst of this time on my own, suddenly I channel thoughts that say “I am not important to anyone.”  Or ones that whisper “Everyone else is special except for you” or even “I don’t like myself”…