“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Ruburt’s methods of dealing with such a situation were highly apparent, in his physical symptoms. Yours were not as easy to perceive. They did not show. In an unsafe universe you run your personal life along certain lines. This applies generally more or less, and specifically to you also. In that context you do not trust good fortune—indeed, it seems practical not to trust it. You hide good fortune for fear it will be taken away. It does not seem to belong in an unsafe universe. You do not tell people that you are doing well—you tell them that you must work from morning to night; that you do not have enough time. You have to prove that you are as hassled as they are.

You work at home. You are reacting, and have been, to some of your mother’s attitudes toward men who work at home, so you try to prove to yourself and others that this is really not only as difficult as outside work, but more so. If people might think you have little to do all day because they do not see you going to a job, then you can show that you have even less time to yourself than others.

There, you have made some good strides. Your good strides there, however, led to your momentary-enough concern with New York City’s economic fate. Your beliefs in the safe universe are spreading. That is why you used the symptoms “just in case.” In the unsafe universe, however, you—not you alone—believe that something good will be fought over. The books prove their merit in that reality, because they are fought over to whatever degree.

In your world, however, and according to your beliefs, some “realistic” events had to prove out the practicality of the safe universe in publishing terms —so you have a creative conflict.

At John’s level, and in his unsafe universe, the events still prove how valuable the books are, since, to whatever extent, they are fought over. At Ruburt’s level and your own, the events show you that the universe, as it applies to your publishing world is safe—with leeway for action—and also opens up creative relationships with people at Prentice that were latent before. Now, these become “practical,” where before they were not considered so. This means that a great deal of energy is released.

Worrying about taxes, again to whatever degree, is the same sort of thing. It is as if you can trust your abundance only if you can prove to yourselves that there is a threat connected with it, or say “After all, it is not all that good.” These are all examples, yet they point out habitual reactions that belong to the unsafe universe, that seem appropriate and realistic there.