Hermit's Guidance

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are”. -Carl Jung

I believe the most unseen and perhaps most difficult struggle most of us face in our lifetime is the one we have with ourselves. Even if we don’t speak of our private struggles openly with those around us, I believe that on some level, every one of us questions who we are and what our purpose is in this fleeting lifetime. It’s inherent- the need for understanding, and some of us go to great lengths to understand everything we can about ourselves so that we may better navigate life. Some of us go to college for a degree in psychology, hoping that if we understand the inner workings of our physical brain, we can get a better idea of why we do and want the things we do on a grander scale. Sometimes it works, and sometimes, even though we absorb all the information we can get our hands on, it still feels as if there’s something missing.

I believe that many of us wish to discover something bigger than ourselves when we delve into these topics, hoping that there’s something lying in wait to be uncovered that will shed light on everything, acting as the final piece of the puzzle we’d been searching for. I believe that this struggle can cast many of us into a depression, and that our current worldly environment doesn’t help the common person to navigate the complex feelings they face within their internal environment. So many of us watch TED talks and listen to motivational speakers or read self-help books, hoping that these knowledgeable people who are further along in their journey of self-discovery can help us to shortcut our own desperate search for the answers we seek. And I believe that, while these people aren’t often able to fully provide the answers we seek, their presence in our lives helps tremendously. It helps us to feel less alone, more seen and understood.

As I’ve grown along my own journey of self-discovery and personal evaluation, I’ve found that there are always things we won’t know, but that those of us who are further along in our journey are fully able to aid those who feel stuck at the start. I’m no professional psychologist yet, but I’ve always taken an interest in the aspects of personal development that seem ugly or unfavorable on the surface, because I believe that from these places emerge the most transformative growth.

My goal is to create a community where I can share motivational stories to the masses, but also an advice column where people can anonymously vent about the struggles that they face along their journey of self-discovery and understanding. I want to be able to create a place where people can truly feel seen and heard, where they’re met with compassion and where their questions can find some kind of answer; a place where they feel safe and welcome. Growth and change can be terrifying, especially when you face them alone, and I’d like to help people realize they don’t have to be alone when they go through these things.

I often find I’m the friend people come to for unbiased advice, or to vent to or cry to when they feel like the world won’t accept or hear them. I strive to present a compassionate approach to everyone in my life, to assist with empathy so that other people can best understand their gifts and become their most authentic self.

I myself have struggled all my life with social conditioning and self-esteem. I grew up in a very strict home with parents that held different beliefs than I did. I had to confront the value system I was taught and flip my beliefs upside down in order to best serve my emotional needs. I’ve had to learn alone how to set boundaries, manage my own emotional health, and sustain growth in my life, and now that I’ve grown as much as I have, I feel prepared to share the things I’ve learned to do for myself with others, so that they can develop better tools and systems to process their own blockages and move forward towards a better, healthier version of themselves.

With a membership system, I would provide weekly stories, tips and tricks on dealing with certain issues in one’s own life, as well as answer questions in an advice column setup. Ideally, I would like to create a shadow work prompt journal so that others can have a physical item to do this work with, as well as a sense of direction to help guide them on this journey.

I believe everyone deserves to feel at home within themselves. I believe everyone deserves to shine and share their own light on the world, but until they’re able to do so on their own, I am more than happy to bear the torch for them. I want to help others who feel lost and alone in the world to find themselves again, and if I can shine my own light and provide a beacon to help them find their way through the dark wood that is the complex journey onward, I would like to do so. As Julien Green said, “the greatest explorer on this earth never takes voyages as long as those of the man who descends into the depths of his heart”.