Architecture of Meaning

Cultivating Meaningful Engagement for the Highly Sensitive Person

We have inherited schools of thought and modes of teaching and instilling knowledge that may have worked in other cultures or other times. However, they do not fit the requirements of this age. Our commitment to learning - our belief that knowledge holds the key - leaves us vulnerable to avoidance of deep matters of the heart….

If the capacity to be present in one’s heart, to gain greater and greater depth in one’s ability to show up to oneself feels like the way to true presence- then the road home leads in, not out to some spiritual philosophy.

Your journey is not about being understood by others. It is about valuing your experience. You can be assured that most people will never have a true sense of your suffering, your disorientation, your perseverance, your loneliness or your triumphs. That is not what matters….

It is also demanding to understand that, most likely, you will have nothing “to show” for your months or years of pain and suffering. There will be no diploma, no party, no raise, no recognition. Of course, how could it be otherwise for an independent agent, bound only by the calling of the spirit?

It is rare to find a book on depression that touches upon the causal elements and dynamics of the depression itself. It is as if the writer - still suffering under the veil of depression’s shadow - is writing from within the condition. Unfortunately, by the very nature of depression, if you are in it - you can only write about what it is like - you can not write about what it is.

Depression is like a fever or a hallucinatory state. It prevents one from:

~seeing clearly
~accessing the core self
~being proactive
~freedom from disempowering influences.

We use terms like - being in a fog, or the light being dim because depression is very much a condition where the individual’s own energetic self is compromised. In my personal and professional work I would say that I have never encountered a depression that did not have spiritual, emotional and energetic dimensions to it.

In a creative life, where one commits to transformation, there will be times when the lack of focus and the absence of energy are signs of evolution, not depression.

In a culture that values action, planning, product and proof of value, anything in your behavior that strays from being:

~goal oriented
~future oriented
~product oriented
~positive in emotion
~clear in focus
~enthusiastic in engagement

runs the risk of being labeled as depression.

Either you have been on a path towards greater awareness for a long time, or more recent circumstances have initiated you onto a journey of discovery.

You may notice that some yoga masters and meditation gurus do not have the kind and complete presence you would expect. You are surprised by glaring gaps in their integrity. In fact, you can not help but notice that many people you meet whose lives revolve around yoga or meditation tend to have a kind of impenetrable shell. They say all the right things, but they seem less available, less fully present then some of your favorite people.