On
Being A Conscious Single
Or, The Zen of Being Single
Joel Rachelson, Ph.D.
Director, ConsciousSingles.com
Unfortunately,
being single today is not easy. Understatement, I guess in light
of the many single ads, books, services and options which attempt
to address this life status.
Why is this?
There are two
fundamental problems here. First, it is difficult, for a number
of reasons, to be at peace with being single. Second, it is very
difficult to meet other singles, in most any environment much less
a healthy environment or process.
This search
for other singles is made more difficult when trying to find others
who are conscious as well.
“Conscious?”
You say, “What does that mean exactly?” In dictionary terms it means
“perceiving or noticing with a degree of controlled thought.” In
regular words, it means to have the capacity for a divided awareness
or co-consciousness. All this really means is that one can take
a step back in their awareness of themselves, of themselves with
others, of themselves in relationship to tasks, objects, the world,
etc. One has the capacity to self observe.
Certainly, being
conscious is one of the hallmarks of our humanness and is in fact
becoming a growth industry, both in the amount of it (thank the
creator!) and in the kinds of things that are by-products of it.
Those who are conscious seem to share interests in healthy, holistic
living, personal growth, spirituality, metaphysics, recovery, social
issues and the environment.
Being a conscious
single means two things.
First, is that
you are someone who has conscious capacities and hence conscious
interests. Second, is that you go about your singleness and your
path to connectedness with a certain amount of awareness.
Having awareness
increases our capacity to be an adult or grownup with yourself and
has three areas of focus: historical, internal and external.
It is vital
to be co-conscious regarding one’s historical or childhood legacy,
one’s internal relationship with themselves, and one’s external
behavior. This is one of the main points I make with my clients--that
it is incumbent on the grownup part of them to be present and therefore
self monitored in these areas.
For the conscious
single, being aware in these ways will make for a healthier, saner,
and hopefully more successful life. When we are operating with co-consciousness
we are coming from a calm, centered, confident place as opposed
to the anxious, needy, frantic, reactive, or insecure place.
The historical
component has to do with how our family of origin has influenced
us in our lives. Our childhood and family experiences create a kind
of imbedded programming that is pervasive in impact. In regards
to being single, our imbedded programming can be affecting how we
feel about being a single person, how we search, who we search for,
what our expectations are, and even how successful we are.
So it is incumbent
on our conscious internal therapist to uncover the historical programming
that might be interfering with us and do some editing. The first
step is awareness. This programming is complex and entrenched and
sometimes difficult to change.
Because of space
limitations, let’s look at just one part of this scripting. How
easy was it to get what you needed in your family? How this needmeeting
happened and what you had to do for it can, I think, influence how
you feel about meeting someone, how you go about it, and what you
have feel you have to give to become coupled. Ponder this with awareness
and see where you get.
The internal
focus or one's self-self relationship is a crucial aspect or ingredient
necessary to have a saner existence. Inner self awareness leads
to a competent internal grown up.
I tell my clients
that my job is to teach them how to develop a good internal grown
up and competent "internal psychologist." As this aspect
grows they then will accomplish solving the problems they came to
see me for and then can fire me!
In terms of being a conscious single, it is imperative that we have
a healthy relationship with ourselves before we can have healthy
interpersonal relationships.
How can we be intimate with others if we aren't intimate with ourselves?
And becoming intimate requires us to be conscious and, as said earlier,
internally skilled.
The external focus is simply the development of successful behavior
strategies for meeting others and how to healthily go about dating.
This can range from how you put yourself in a position to meet others,
to evaluating your expectations, or to maintaining the basket theory
of dating (as in don't put your eggs in just one).
There is much more to say and explore on the topic of being conscious
and being a conscious single. What I want to do is to assist in
making the journey to healthy connectedness easier and imbued with
a sense of positiveness.
The Feature and Forum and particularly the Discussion Area accessed
after logging
in to the Conscious Singles Website is a place where there is
lot's of room to say, be, interact and connect as one conscious
being. I am flat tickled to have you be part of this ride.