When I was reading Thoreau and Whitman, I was so enamored that I found myself waist high in anything relating to naturalism and transcendentalism. I read everything I could get my hands on at the time and did my own form of transcendental meditation. I did mushrooms (fresh from Alabama!), mesc or hash in the pastures at my school and would scribble in my journal for hours every weekend. No darkness, no sensory deprivation. A deep awareness that made everything crystal clear (or so it seemed) inspired me to write deep thoughts of deep philosophy, of life and the purpose of man.
I'd imagine sensory deprivation would exponentially intensify these feelings.
But I can't tell you that it'll solve your problems. What about self-hypnosis? (That was the phase that followed, but I still find it effective without the ensuing burnout.
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