I’d like to believe that we are by nature social creatures. Anyone who has ever experienced loneliness – and among us hasn’t – will agree with that. We need each other. But as much as we need to be with each other, we also need to be alone from time to time. The thought is expressed beautifully by Paul Tillich. In his book, Courage To Be, he writes, “Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.” One of the absolute essentials of my life is to have time to myself. Time to collect scattered thoughts, time for quiet contemplation, time to think things through, or time to just go along at my own pace. To me, it’s a very reasonable demand of the body and the mind that I disengage from everything and everyone occasionally. It’s amazing how often I am criticized for this trait. I, say my critics, who love people so much, have no right to be a private person. This requirement is noI’d like to believe that we are by nature social creatures. Anyone who has ever experienced loneliness – and among us hasn’t – will agree with that. We need each other. But as much as we need to be with each other, we also need to be alone from time to time. The thought is expressed beautifully by Paul Tillich. In his book, Courage To Be, he writes, “Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.” One of the absolute essentials of my life is to have time to myself. Time to collect scattered thoughts, time for quiet contemplation, time to think things through, or time to just go along at my own pace. To me, it’s a very reasonable demand of the body and the mind that I disengage from everything and everyone occasionally. It’s amazing how often I am criticized for this trait. I, say my critics, who love people so much, have no right to be a private person. This requirement is not new for me. I discovered it early. In my childhood, in my birth country, there were the day-long excursions up into the mountains, near town, the hours of exploring whatever came into a view or grasp, completely absorbed in my environment. There were very special trees that had the most accommodating branches for climbing and for building my own little fortress of solitude, way up high. When I really needed to be alone, that was my place. I still like to break away on my own and wander to places that invite exploration. Sad to say, I’m less inclined to climb trees these days, but the stars seem just as close and glorious from the backyard of our house, and it’s a great deal less strenuous. I manage to get away by myself few days every now and then. It’s a need that reasserts itself at appropriate intervals of my life. I divorce myself from newspapers, TV, telephone, Blackberry, even though it’s not always easy to leave these things behind. for me, doing this has its rewards. First of all, there is the absolute splendor of no static from the outside. Getting far enough away from the sounds of the city means an opportunity to listen to my own heart and mind. I sometimes forget their sound in the constant roar of daily life. Having experienced this for a week or so, the renewing effect it has on my mind and body is unmistakable. Being cut off from a week’s worth of news, and the calamities and carnage that are its mainstays, is a very special kind of therapy. It’s most enlightening to discover that, like a never ending soap opera, nothing is really missed by failing occasionally to keep current. In fact, separating oneself from the woes of the world can do wonders for one’s outlook and general mood. One returns refreshed and optimistic! It’s so easy to become wrapped up in a routine of people an places that we neglect the all-important time of separation. Even when we find ourselves alone we are sometimes prone to fill the empty space with the chatter of a television set, or the Internet or plugged in MP3 player, almost as if we were afraid of the quiet. We forget that there is an inner music that’s nice to listen to sometimes. Thomas Edison said of his deafness that it was an asset because from it he learned to listen from within. All of us, to some degree, suffer from a different kind of deafness that is caused by ignoring or closing off those inner channels. Solitude is an excellent way of improving our hearing.t new for me. I discovered it early. In my childhood, in my birth country, there were the day-long excursions up into the mountains, near town, the hours of exploring whatever came into a view or grasp, completely absorbed in my environment. There were very special trees that had the most accommodating branches for climbing and for building my own little fortress of solitude, way up high. When I really needed to be alone, that was my place. I still like to break away on my own and wander to places that invite exploration. Sad to say, I’m less inclined to climb trees these days, but the stars seem just as close and glorious from the backyard of our house, and it’s a great deal less strenuous. I manage to get away by myself few days every now and then. It’s a need that reasserts itself at appropriate intervals of my life. I divorce myself from newspapers, TV, telephone, Blackberry, even though it’s not always easy to leave these things behind. for me, doing this has its rewards. First of all, there is the absolute splendor of no static from the outside. Getting far enough away from the sounds of the city means an opportunity to listen to my own heart and mind. I sometimes forget their sound in the constant roar of daily life. Having experienced this for a week or so, the renewing effect it has on my mind and body is unmistakable. Being cut off from a week’s worth of news, and the calamities and carnage that are its mainstays, is a very special kind of therapy. It’s most enlightening to discover that, like a never ending soap opera, nothing is really missed by failing occasionally to keep current. In fact, separating oneself from the woes of the world can do wonders for one’s outlook and general mood. One returns refreshed and optimistic! It’s so easy to become wrapped up in a routine of people an places that we neglect the all-important time of separation. Even when we find ourselves alone we are sometimes prone to fill the empty space with the chatter of a television set, or the Internet or plugged in MP3 player, almost as if we were afraid of the quiet. We forget that there is an inner music that’s nice to listen to sometimes. Thomas Edison said of his deafness that it was an asset because from it he learned to listen from within. All of us, to some degree, suffer from a different kind of deafness that is caused by ignoring or closing off those inner channels. Solitude is an excellent way of improving our hearing.
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