Friday, January 18, 2013

The Most Interesting Thing: Solitude

Henry David Thoreau


Solitude
Sometimes scares me
Alone and afraid
Solitude
Sometimes frees me
Awake and alive
Solitude
A hideous curse
Solitude
A precious gift
Solitude

Creativity and solitude are inexorably bound in my soul. A fine balance. Too little solitude and my creative spirit withers. Too much solitude and that same spirit grows restless. Solitude brings clarity. But solitude can also breed insanity. Solitude. Friend or foe? For me, it's both.

What are your thoughts on solitude?

21 comments:

  1. I definitely need it - I call it my "decompression" time. Sometimes I'll walk or listen to music or just sit there with my eyes closed. It makes me feel better and I'm sure I'm more pleasant to be around afterwards :)

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  2. Oh my goodness, you're poem captures my solitude relationship so well. The "s" word and I definitely have a love-hate relationship.

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  3. I agree with you 100%. Hubbers travels alot for work & sometimes I love it, and other times too much solitude is crazy-making.

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  4. I agree with Edith. Usually I love it, especially during the first stages of a new WIP. But it can leave my mind with TOO much space and crazy-making.

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  5. I relish it. I grew up in a country where the culture is very social. Heaven forbid you find a Filipino dining by her lonesome. While enjoy being in the company of my family and friends (online friends included), I look forward to the moments in time that I can be by myself.

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  6. I'm in a very similar boat, Angelina. I need solitude to a certain extent, much as the poem suggests. That has been my complaint since October...I need another me-only getaway to wrap my mind around my writing. But being isolated in this cultural wasteland of a small town (not that all small towns are cultural wastelands), the loneliness is sometimes palpable and my inspiration sags. That is why I love you guys so much! You keep me sane.

    I have always needed my alone time, even as a kid. But I am a gregarious creature at heart and need the ebb and flow of human contact to stoke the creative fire. Once the flames are reaching the sky, I'm good on my own for a while.

    Rock on Wipsters!

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    1. Happy to assist in relieving you of solitude anytime. ^_^

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  7. I'm with the rest of you guys. Need it, crave it, in measured doses.

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  8. I'm a loner by nature. Most of my favourite activities are things I do on my own. The curse of being an introvert! LOL!

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    1. Or the blessing, however you want to look at it.

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  9. I need a lot of time alone. When I lived alone, I sometimes got lonely, but not very often.

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  10. I'd go crazy if I didn't get to be alone. But I'd probably go crazy if I didn't talk to other people, too, so it goes both ways.

    I love the Thoreau quote!

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