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I just finished reading two books that resonated very deeply with me. One was an old science-fiction book called Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, and the other was a non-fiction work by Ernest Becker called The Denial of Death. That I happened to read these two books in sequence turned out to be a wonderful example of how synchronicity operates in life.
Stranger in a Strange Land is the story of Valentine Michael Smith who becomes an orphan on Mars and is brought up as a Martian. When a second expedition arrives on Mars years later, they decide to bring Valentine Michael back to Earth. The paradigm Michael has learned on Mars is very different from the one he now has to face on Earth. He soon discovers that he can teach his paradigm to other Earthlings and that in so doing that, he improves their lives.
Since we all have been pressured to fit into the paradigm of our families and our culture, in many ways the story of Michael applies to Everyman. The only difference between us and Michael is that we, to one degree or another, have been willing to give up our birthright for the security offered by our environment so we may fit in. Those of us who resisted fitting in too much were labeled as "misfits" or assorted psychiatric terms.
This brings me to the second book entitled The Denial of Death. Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning thesis is that "...the essence of normality is the refusal of reality (italics Mr. Becker's)". Mr. Becker has come to the conclusion that our entire culture and all other cultures are built around the refusal of the reality of death. Therefore, it stands to reason that, since the psychiatric profession calls refusal of reality a mental illness, all of our society is, in fact, mentally ill. The only difference is that the so-called "normal" ones keep their lies better than many of us. Just consider the current news about the state of the human race to understand the prescience of Mr. Becker's thesis. The desire to fit in is a form of cowardice which forces us to face the lie of our existence. It is heroic to choose to not to fit in, especially when there will be clear damage to our psyche when we do.
The aim of this column is for me to tell of my trials and successes over the past 64 years of my life and to invite you to share your personal success stories in navigating the "Strange Land" in which we find ourselves. My email is hl_newman@yahoo.com. I look forward to receiving your success stories.