[thinkingemote]

I remember reading about some desert monks who do that and that they had a set routine for every day including a large amount of manual physical work and cooking and cleaning. They were not just isolated in a cave doing nothing but living and working and praying. I seem to recall they were also advised to ignore any visions they had (even if they were good) which seems counter intuitive if one is thinking about stories about spirit quests. But I guess it's very wise.

I imagine the translation to lighthouses would be to ensure that your time there is spent in a good routine of keeping yourself active and to have some training on how to maintain psychological health. Over wintering Antarctic research scientists and astronauts probably also have rigorous routines although they would be in a small community which can regulate mental health.

I'm also reminded of the requirements of people being asked to move to small communities on isolated harsh islands. One would imagine that they would be attractive to people who do well alone, introverts, who work alone and are happy quietly, but they actually want and favour people who like others, need to work with others, who work well in a community and are socially outgoing.

[rramadass]

There are a bunch of good documentaries about "Desert Fathers/Christians/Monks/etc." on Youtube about monks from the Coptic Christian Church in the Egyptian Desert.

Beautiful short documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMyyUVXKOrI

The Coptic Monasteries and Monks of the Egyptian Desert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K4urm3GD2I