I'm spending a little time each day to read some traditional Chinese literature. Recently I've been interested in a book that can be dated to the early Zhou dynasty. I Ching was believed (by some) to be written by King Wen of Zhou when he was a prisoner at Youli, apparently before 1000 BC. If it is true, this is currently the oldest book that I've ever read.
What I'd like to share today is some comment on the first stacked line of the hexagram qian (䷀) from Confucius.
初九曰：“潜龙勿用。”何谓也？子曰：“龙德而隐者也。不易乎世，不成乎名；遁世无闷，不见是而无闷；乐则行之，忧则违之，确乎其不可拔，‘潜龙’也。”
So he's talking about how to be a hermit. A hermit shouldn't be affected by the outside world and should stick to his own understanding of what is correct and what is not. There shouldn't be fear-of-missing-out (FOMO). Other's opinions matter little to him. And he is very steadfast on his own opinion even though most of the people don't agree with him.
I'd say it is much harder to be a hermit today. The hardest part is probably due to the connected world we are living in. Being able to be immune to other people's comments and opinions seems to be a supernatural power. Extended isolation can literally drive a sane person crazy. Yet still, doing what your heart desires has never been so important. And in the end, you cannot always be a hermit. Everything is interconnected. You have to be connected to the society in some way. In ancient time, you can literally be a hermit. In modernity, you are only allowed to be a hermit temporarily.