Extreme Isolation: A Case Study of a Modern Hermit

The Soul Path: Goals in this Incarnation
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http://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit

It was hard to know exactly where to place this topic, but the Soulpath somehow seemed most appropriate. We are all on a journey here. By most it is often unrecognized. One of the major characteristics that defines the term, from a Culdian perspective, is a conscious recognition of this journey with an aim towards moving forward towards God and in becoming a Master of Life. The hermit detailed in the article above does have some serious blind spots (don’t we all!), but one could make the case he made a more full and conscious choice regarding his journey in life than most folks ever will.

I have my own thoughts and experiences regarding the benefits and dangers of isolation (both short and prolonged), and there is something to be learned from both reading this man’s account. I’ll say more on those subjects after reading other members’ thoughts on this case.

I think its obvious that stealing wasn’t the answer for this man, as he admits, but what of the hermit life? What of the lifestyle? The lessons to be learned? The good and the bad?

I’d love to read others’ thoughts before I expound on more of my own… And even if you don’t have any solid conclusions to share, this case is certainly one to ponder deeply!

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This man certainly went through some anguish to isolate himself. Maybe vice versa.
It almost seems, that his cravings for sugar kept him bound and made him relapse to theft.
By reading the article, we can see that probably for most of us, who grew up in ‘first world societies’, getting food in the wilderness is not an easy thing at all.
Despite this, the fact that he lived in the woods for 20 years, under extreme weather conditions and almost to the limit of his body, surely speaks for the determination and willpower of this man.
One can almost feel the separateness he was suffering when living again in society(jail in this case). It had to be quite a sensory overload when before he was living in aloneness for years.
I wonder how my perception would change if i would live a hermit life.

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I don’t find this to be a sad story, until he gets arrested! It occurred to me that i would like to have a pokemon battle with this guy :smiley: I feel that he would only have like a lvl 20 pigetto because he not have many batteries but i battle him with a rattat so thats ok. I hope he gets out of jail in short order, i would say a persons circumstances have a great deal of reference to the crime they commit. this is a man we should be learning from, not imprisoning. at first there is a sinister element but then you consider that these people with their summer huts in the woods are themselves thieves as we are all take take take in the end. He is a very masculine figure and i wonder how we apply the female to this condition. My final point is about family, the fact he went back to his mother. We are all bound in the most intimate way by our families.