Being Ghost or Mortal.

The process of becoming reclusive is an interesting phenomenon. As you grow more distant from the people around you, you begin to lose sight of the reference points which others use to manage their sense of self so that it remains safely and conveniently in the mainstream. Your perceptions begin to wander off the cultural track and grow closer to who you really are. And this, in turn, changes your understanding of who you really are. You begin to see things you didn’t know were there before, and you become more honest about the things you did.

And there’s one thing about your sense of self which becomes ever more confusing. You find yourself pondering a difficult question: ‘Am I a ghost moving quietly among mortals, or am I a being of substance living in a world of ghosts?’

I don’t yet live in a cave and allow my fingernails to grow until they resemble claws. I still shop in supermarkets and talk enthusiastically to rare people of like or similar mind (I even talk unenthusiastically to people of unlike or dissimilar mind, be they the ghosts or the true mortals.) But it will be interesting to see how things progress.