“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

To a large extent you ended up concentrating upon the problem, so that it loomed ever larger in your minds, and therefore in your experience. Regardless of everything that you have been taught, and your own beliefs to the contrary, I still tell you that to mentally minimize a problem is to minimize it—to minimize it in fact. I realize, however, that this is extremely difficult to do in your situation.

Ruburt is not in a life-threatening situation. There is nothing wrong, say, with his blood, though circulation is impaired. Your optometrist told you more or less what I told you about Ruburt’s eyes. In that no eye disease as such was responsible. Ruburt has not had a series of strokes—or any strokes.

The physical condition itself, on that level (pause), is caused (long pause) by “improper” relationships—that is, things not working together well, though the parts themselves are not diseased, per se—and that is the result of stress, habitually applied, of bodily habits. Ruburt’s reaction to the books is partially responsible for the latest difficulties, but so is the creation of the crisis situation itself.

Because of the Prentice situation, and because of the decision not to work on our book for a while, he felt blocked, not knowing how or when to move ahead (underlined). For all of your own regrets and recriminations about Prentice, for example, he was himself pleased by Tam’s letter today, that that bridge toward motion had not been severed.

The crisis situation led him to concentrate upon his difficulties, which aggravated his stress, of course. The discomfort and concentration cut down on his creative abilities, which added to the problem. The books were held up, mine being only recently released, and as yet he has had no reader response, which does provide him with a kind of feedback.

Ruburt’s nature leads him toward the kind of creativity he is naturally embarked upon. It represents his true nature. The fears and difficulties may be deeply ingrained, but they are largely learned. To cut down on creative activity will not alleviate the situation. An overconcern (underlined) about the mechanics of publication, or the necessity of publication, or the wheres and hows of publication, or a sense of responsibility about the work, can indeed cause difficulty, but the basic creative expression—which has been impeded in the past by fears—should still be encouraged.

(8:54.) Ruburt always wanted to help his mother, and felt largely powerless to do so. His mother’s condition made him ask questions, of course, concerning man’s condition, at a very early age. To some extent trying to help the world is a larger, expanded attempt to address such situations. Again, he was in no way responsible for his mother’s condition, however, or for her unhappiness, nor is he in those terms responsible for the unhappy situations of other people.

That is quite enough for this evening. I sympathize with the situation, and expect that the session will be of some help in that regard. A fond good evening.