“[O]ne of the highest pleasures is to be more or less unconscious of one’s own existence, to be absorbed in interesting sights, sounds, places, and people,” Watts wrote. “Conversely, one of the greatest pains is to be self-conscious.” In his book The Wisdom of Insecurity, Watts suggests that in our efforts to be secure and certain about ourselves and the world, we end up deadening ourselves to a greater truth. He says we can’t understand life and its mysteries by containing them—that it would be like trying to contain a river in a bucket. “To ‘have’ running water, you must let go of it and let it run.”