Keep a careful watch on yourself. Do not allow yourself to be swept away by external obsessions. The tumultuous movements of the soul, in particular, can be rendered quiet by stillness. But if you keep encouraging and stimulating them, they will start to terrorize you and can disorder your whole life. Once they are in control, it is as hard to heal them as it is to soothe a sore that we can't stop scratching. (Abba Philemon)

I do not hear in this a rejection of the external world. But there is a need to discipline how we perceive and engage the world.

Looking at pictures of anothers wedding we may need to consciously focus on the wedding couple, rather than the pride or worry with which we spy ourselves in the background. Without discipline, our perception tends to amplify our place in the world.

You, me, we -- are important. But we are only a tiny aspect of the wider reality of God. We are invited to join God in this wider view.