A sense of meaning is our strength. When we can see meaning clearly, we know exactly what we are supposed to do, and our energies respond. When we cannot perceive meaning, we yawn with boredom, and our energies fail. This explains one of the chief problems of everyday life. We can be perfectly comfortable, in an enviable situation, and yet thoroughly bored. We can be uncomfortable, in a highly dangerous situation, and yet feel intensely alive. Danger forces us to make a mental effort. We `stand back’ from life, like a painter standing back from his canvas, and see over-all meanings. The result is a flood of vitality. It begins to look as if civilization is man’s downfall, since it subjects him to increasing comfort. Healthy spirits usually dislike it and may actually go out and seek discomfort. This explains that apparently paradoxical actions of so many `Outsiders’ like Gauguin, Van Gogh, Lawrence, who turned their backs on comfort. But man possesses an instrument for adjusting the balance. It is called imagination…..

We fail to realize how many of our modern amenities are the outcome of boredom. The basic rule of the affluent society is: when bored, go out and buy something; so our homes are full of gadgets we seldom use. Man of the Golden Age found everything so interesting that he felt no need to spice his life with variety. When he wanted to give himself a treat, he went and sat on a hilltop or looked at the stars.