Steve, but some of those answers are funny, like the one where they say they meditate while fishing. Maybe visualizing a fat catch.
My father used to tell me that meditation developed in India because over there they are starving, so they need to spend as less calories as possible. That also cracked me up.
Some people are encouraged rather than discouraged by denial, so the skepticism of other people motivates rather than discourages. Maybe we are like this, in many aspects I am.
I had some funny discussions with people and meditation, like, Always on oil rigs, a colleauge of mine told me he too would have been able to meditate for long periods, sitting there and thinking about pu$$y. He told it in a funny way so it made me laugh. Then I proceeded to explain to him that such an endeavour could not be defined meditation, rather concentration on a particularly materialistic issue. He did not retort then.
When on offshore rigs there were not many places to meditate and sometimes I just sat where I found a quieter corner. Some workers would see me but, since back then I was pretty fit and muscular, they thought it was all part of fitness training and respected that.
A training mate in the gym used to sit and meditate in a corner. They didn't bother him but once they tested him. 'Hey, man, your fiancee wants to see you in the front office', told him while he was meditating. He should have ignored them instead he stood up and failed the test.
There are more funny or interesting episodes about meditation, right now I'm missing them because I just meditate in seclusion.
Your story, Steve, about meditating in the bush and the policemen is a good one, maybe not to you, lol
Actually i was meditating in the woods. You and I both have Uranus/Sun conjunct in our natal charts. These type of people follow very different courses of action. They can be geniuses in common situations. They can see beyond the common conclusions. i do not say this egotistically but as an astrological fact. Let others judge it's accuracy.
Perhaps you have done very unusual things in the face of public opposition. This would also verify the position of Venus being involved also and having a stellium with Sun/Venus/Uranus. i remember my father telling me; "Son when you were made the mold was thrown out." No doubt you have had similar experiences in life and it might have taken a while to recognize that you were not just a weirdo but actually had the ability to envision a future very different then those around you and a reality that defied the out worn paths followed by the masses.
You mentioned that some people are encouraged rather then discouraged by skepticism and denial of others.
Isn't this because we recognize that the skepticism and denial represent a conformity to ignorance and lack of ability to recognize a more progressive view of thinking and therefore acting?