nse to that is denial and escape, as Shaw indicated. The individual tries not to see, denies seeing, or escapes from seeing what seems to be unendurable.
For example, the doctor who is solely focused on continuing the life of her patient, may cease to be able to even see, or respond to that patient, when the patient is clearly beyond help and in the final stages of dying. The doctor seeks escape from recognizing powerlessness and ultimate lack of control over death.
This becomes a form of passivity, an inability to respond. The doctor may cease to enter the patient's room, avoid family members, act in ways that are perceived as cold, and generally withdraw from active participation in the situation. Passivity is an expression of that entrapment within our defenses that Shaw discussed.
Passivity is a frozen state that cuts off the individual from the flow of being. Being itself demands openness. It is flow and change and impermanence. It is not the static or secure.
How then does passivity differ from acceptance or letting go? Letting go whether of the outcome of one's efforts or of the goals of security and p
...