we crave to touch this Something Else, to know it, to be connected, why do we also flee from it, from our selves, into busy-ness and distraction and, well, all the things that make us anxious?” Whyte’s take is this: “Because there’s a silence and aloneness that accompanies a strong relationship with yourself. In that silence we see the truth of our existence and the shortness of life. And this is painful. “Also, when we come in close, we become larger . . . and this requires change. We become more visible, and thus more open to being touched by life, and thus more likely to be hurt.”
