How Acedia or Spiritual Dryness May Contribute to Much of the Despair, Unhappiness, Anxiety and Lack of Fulfilment People are Experiencing Today
An email question about acedia came in, and here is some of my answer.
There is too much to talk about concerning this wonderful topic in one email. So I am grateful that you indicated an interest in reading resources. This provides me the opportunity to give just a framework (like a mini course outline) and links to useful references for you to read.
Acedia is one of the most important but least understood psychospiritual phenomena. Those who experience it (and I believe it takes a diversity of subtle forms, with each human being having their own unique version) know what it is, but are hard pressed to describe it to others. In other words, those who experience spiritual yearning or a sense of something being missing, or who are troubled by the dryness of their spirituality or their seeming lack of energy to
pursue what they feel they should be pursuing--those who have not experienced such feelings will simply not understand.
It is useful to find others who have written about it. I will also list a few avenues of exploration of people who may have experienced it but give it a different name. Finally the question is what to do about it which is probably the most important of all, and I will deal with it last.
Again, these are avenues for exploration. I hope some of them are useful.
Acedia is the least understood and most ignored factor when "diagnosis" are made. Perhaps this is because acedia is a spiritual perception and condition (which however does contribute to and interact with emotional and physical symptoms).
An ulcer or migraine are clearly physical symptoms. Grieving, for example, after the loss of a loved one, is clearly emotional.
But acedia has a spiritual aspect, which is neither physical nor purely emotional, and thus it is often overlooked or discounted.
Just as a child's natural playfulness might be misinterpreted as not paying attention or as oppositional disorder, and just as the emotional extremes that most young people are prone to go to (extremely happy when their team wins and down when their team loses) can be viewed as something different than what it is, likewise a sense of being unfulfilled, a yearning for something else in one's life (or even being concerned over the fact that one is not yearning) is likely to baffle others.
The first reference I would like to provide is an interview with Kathleen Norris, New York Times Best Selling Author who has written extensively on the topic.
This is the best interview I have seen, and the comments posted below the interview are also each worth reading. The book referred is likely one you may have already read; and if so it might be worth rereading not only for the content but also for references to other resources.
http://www.thehighcalling.org/learning-embrace-boredom-interview-kathleen-norris
Secondly I would like to recommend two books which I have written. The first is Conquering Stress and its Symptoms: The Problem and the Solution. It is basically a primer on emotions, especially the subtle emotion of resentment, which colors our thoughts and blocks the flow of creative energy and self expressiveness.
The second book and one of my favorites is called Becoming a Friend of God. It's subtitle is "finding peace of mind in an age of anxiety," but the principles it brings forth could also apply to acedia.
There is too much to talk about concerning this wonderful topic in one email. So I am grateful that you indicated an interest in reading resources. This provides me the opportunity to give just a framework (like a mini course outline) and links to useful references for you to read.
Acedia is one of the most important but least understood psychospiritual phenomena. Those who experience it (and I believe it takes a diversity of subtle forms, with each human being having their own unique version) know what it is, but are hard pressed to describe it to others. In other words, those who experience spiritual yearning or a sense of something being missing, or who are troubled by the dryness of their spirituality or their seeming lack of energy to
pursue what they feel they should be pursuing--those who have not experienced such feelings will simply not understand.
It is useful to find others who have written about it. I will also list a few avenues of exploration of people who may have experienced it but give it a different name. Finally the question is what to do about it which is probably the most important of all, and I will deal with it last.
Again, these are avenues for exploration. I hope some of them are useful.
Acedia is the least understood and most ignored factor when "diagnosis" are made. Perhaps this is because acedia is a spiritual perception and condition (which however does contribute to and interact with emotional and physical symptoms).
An ulcer or migraine are clearly physical symptoms. Grieving, for example, after the loss of a loved one, is clearly emotional.
But acedia has a spiritual aspect, which is neither physical nor purely emotional, and thus it is often overlooked or discounted.
Just as a child's natural playfulness might be misinterpreted as not paying attention or as oppositional disorder, and just as the emotional extremes that most young people are prone to go to (extremely happy when their team wins and down when their team loses) can be viewed as something different than what it is, likewise a sense of being unfulfilled, a yearning for something else in one's life (or even being concerned over the fact that one is not yearning) is likely to baffle others.
The first reference I would like to provide is an interview with Kathleen Norris, New York Times Best Selling Author who has written extensively on the topic.
This is the best interview I have seen, and the comments posted below the interview are also each worth reading. The book referred is likely one you may have already read; and if so it might be worth rereading not only for the content but also for references to other resources.
http://www.thehighcalling.org/learning-embrace-boredom-interview-kathleen-norris
Secondly I would like to recommend two books which I have written. The first is Conquering Stress and its Symptoms: The Problem and the Solution. It is basically a primer on emotions, especially the subtle emotion of resentment, which colors our thoughts and blocks the flow of creative energy and self expressiveness.
The second book and one of my favorites is called Becoming a Friend of God. It's subtitle is "finding peace of mind in an age of anxiety," but the principles it brings forth could also apply to acedia.
Both of these books are available to preview or order online in eBook format at
http://www.scribd.com/rolandtrujillo9820
They are also available in quality paperback at www.cafepress.com/northwes
Negative emotions, especially resentment, and then often unrecognized unfinished business with our parents, especially our father, block finding God, which in my opinion is the solution to all our woes.
I agree with Kathleen Norris that the Psalms are excellent. However, I think she looks at them as mere literature and poetry, whereas I see them as much more. David is able to bring forth his love of God and express it. This has to do obviously with his love for God, but also has to do with his courage, which precludes resentment.
The French existentialists wrote of ennui ( a sort of boredom) but with more universal import. Albert Camus, the famous French existentialist writer, spoke of living a life engagee. An engaged
life, living life to the fullest, he saw as the solution to ennui.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of the famous aviator, wrote A Gift from the Sea. This book has had great appeal to women who wish to spend some time with themselves and finding their spiritual roots.
Henry David Thoreau, in his book Walden Pond, also is in this tradition--of separation from the world to find oneself.
I have always had an interest in books written by people who have experienced extreme situations, and how they overcame pain, starvation, deprivation, or lack of energy to accomplish things. Victor Frankel, Holocaust survivor, wrote his famous book Man's Search for Meaning, and he found that it is meaning, even just that of helping another, that is of value to those in extreme situations and gives them the energy to keep going.
Many writers, among them Alexander Solzhenitsyn, found meaning and purpose and a renewed interest in spiritual things while in prison. In his case, being separated from the world, gave him time to think and reflect. Another issue is that people can be draining. One of my most
read articles is about "why do I feel tired and drained around people."
I suspect that the monks, the Old Testament Prophets, and people like Thoreau have discovered that they need some alone time to refresh. But then, I am a big believer in doing something (anything) just to get going. And when it involves helping others, one is quickly energized
again.
Gianna Kali in her blog http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com has written with great candor of her struggle to deal with side effects of meds that took her energy away. Her purpose in life it appears is to share her story and help others.
Another perennial favorite is a book called Advice From a Failure written by a very thoughtful lady named Jo Coudert. Each new generation seems to discover her book and loves reading it.
I believe that much of what today is labeled depression has to do with the torpor of not having found meaning and purpose in a banal world. The sensitive ones want to make a difference, but don't know how.
Another issue is energy. Many people today are in fact experiencing acedia, and many are even writing and blogging about it, but they don't call it acedia. They are likely to name it depression or chronic fatigue syndrome, simply because they don't know what else to call it or they themselves do no realize the spiritual component.
I will end with a short story. The most spiritual man that I know does a lot of good and what he does and says is inspired. His energy to live and to move is love--his love for God and his love for others.
One day he was walking in a big city and arrived at the corner. He waited for the pedestrian walk light. When it came on, he just stood there. He literally did not have the energy to move. He realized that this was the case. Whatever he was doing or where he was going was just not that important. So he had no ambition energy, no anger or excitement. No motivation or energy to move. He soon kept going again, of course, but he never forgot this realization.
When it comes to speaking, writing and helping others, he has plenty of energy. And this energy is from God.
That is why when I have a period when I don't know what to do or what to say, I don't resent it. I don't enjoy it of course, but I just wait patiently until the wind of the spirit moves me.
Thank you for the opportunity to think about this topic
