The Luxury of Solitude

We speak endlessly about connection.

But perhaps one of the most precious forms of connection begins when nobody else is there.

Solitude has a bad reputation. We confuse it with loneliness, rejection or isolation. Yet chosen solitude can be something entirely different.

It can be a meeting.

With the part of yourself that does not need to perform.
The part that is not trying to impress, seduce, convince or succeed.
The part that becomes audible only when the room becomes quiet.

Artists have always known this. So have contemplatives, explorers and people who disappear into the mountains for reasons they cannot entirely explain.

There is a form of solitude that diminishes us.

And there is another that restores us.

The difference may be whether we are running away from the world, or returning to ourselves.

Every now and then, choose yourself as the person you are going to spend time with.

And do absolutely nothing.