"Who Am I?" Loneliness and Our Self-Concept

<p>One of the most common patterns I’m seeing these days with clients - and in society - is a sense of being alone and a deep longing for connection.</p><p> </p><p>As humans, this is natural. We are social creatures. We get our sense of safety in the world from being a part of a group, a community. In the busy, productivity-obsessed world of modern industrialized society, we often don’t have an environment that nurtures community and connection.</p><p> </p><p>Today I want to talk about how we can explore the existential question of “Who Am I?” and how that relates to being a medicine of sorts for this epidemic of loneliness.</p><p> </p><p>Another way we can ask "Who am I?” is “What is <i>awareness</i>?” Many teachers describe who we really are as “loving awareness,” so maybe asking this instead helps make this existential question more approachable.</p><p> </p><p>Before beginning this exploration, it’s important to have some foundational grounding practices. In my own experience guiding altered states and participating in longer silent meditation retreats, when people have a premature experience of emptiness without the tools to help ground the, it can even be traumatic. We think it will be this blissful experience of “merging with the light,” but without foundational practices and a strong sense of grounding, it can be very unsettling.</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes we have a deeper sense of stillness and a feeling of being grounded. This is a great state to be in as we begin to invite an exploration of our true nature and bring an awareness of more subtle dimensions into our consciousness.</p><p> </p><p>So let’s say we have optimal conditions for this - a stable mind, a firm grounding, and self-compassion for ourselves, which creates a sense of safety. One of the first things to bring into our awareness is that of the immediacy of our true nature; that it is here, now, always, and that it’s <i>possible </i>to experience it.</p><p> </p><p>In modern industrialized society, there's a strong conditioning to keep us in an