I found solitude in an unexpected place for the last two months– in a bustling city full of emergency vehicles’ urgent sirens, stressed-out, sleep-deprived commuters, petulant smells rising from grates, foraging homeless, and stereotypical tourists.
Please read: I wasn’t seeking solitude. I avoided it the way a three-year-old fights sleep.
Up until then, solitude meant isolation. Being alone. I craved connection until I adjusted to the perpetual awareness of my connection to the world.
Now that I’ve left my temporary city life, I crave solitude. Now, though, I’m more peaceful and joyful and less high-strung. I’m less pulled between what I want, and what others need.
It’s not that the grass is greener on the other side when it comes to being in solitude or community, we just need both.
Solitude allows us to be present to all people, to recognize our humanity in each other, to experience life on a level that matters. Without solitude, we lose touch with things that matter.
Try it:
Even just turning off the TV, putting down the book, turning off the music, turning off your phone ringer for ten minutes will get you started. Don’t be afraid to hear what you think. Maybe you’ll grow to like this voice over the perpetual drone of marketing gimmicks, slogans, and theme songs. Let the stillness feed you. It’s like lotion for your insides.
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Peter Atkinson said:
What scares me is that instead of hearing my own thoughts i’ll still be hearing the jingles of marketing.
August 21, 2008 @ 11:25 am
leafless said:
Thank goodness that the Olympics is over. I can finally turn off the TV to listen to my inner voice.
August 25, 2008 @ 1:37 am