The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.
- Pearl S. Buck
Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up.
- Pearl Buck
I have been to the mountain of loneliness and waded through the river of solitude. The complexity of the meaning and value of Loneliness and her siamese twin, Solitude, fascinates me. What are the parameters for loneliness versus solitude? How sharply defined is the individual identity of each, when utlitmately fused to one another in some unfathomable way.The irony is that the physical element required by the inherent nature of Solitude has little to do with the underpinnings of her sister, Loneliness. One can be heartbreakingly lonely swimming in a sea of people, or achieve complete fulfillment in the solitude of an early morning sunrise. One of my favorite sources of rest for my weary soul is to relax on the beach on a cold winter's day. With the wind whipping through my hair and burning my cheeks the crash of the ocean can often calm the anxieties of the spirit. I have felt true contenment amidst the most discouraging times by embracing the solitude of nature, coming to find the truth in the latter quote of Pearl S. Buck, renewing my "springs that never dry up." But is it possible that at some point the practice of a consant solitude may morph into the hollowness of loneliness? They are innately joined together after all, forged by the emotional needs of humanity. Can one suffer loneliness at the hands of a hyperactive search for solitude? Those of us who may often prefer the quiet moments of solitude must expand our comprehension to understand that it is only through active socializing and connecting with the world around us on a meaningful level, doing our utmost to brush off the isolationism of loneliness, that the most profound moments of solitude can actually exist.
Want you to know that I read each of your posts, I am just a terrible commenter because I generally browse blogs via my cellphone. Anyway, I find this particular post very profound and something that I contemplate often in my abundance of alone time. It is interesting to determine each time I am alone, if I am experiencing solitude or loneliness. And it is very true that one can only experience true, fulfilling solitude when a larger portion, or at least a quality portion, is spent in healthy interaction and service of others. Some of my most lonely times were when I was not at peace with myself, surrounded by dozens of people, feeling utterly alone. Loneliness does not come from being alone, nor does true solitude. The former can be eradicated by healing oneself from the inside, and in the process the latter is found. Remind me to tell you sometime about my current boss... a man who wants so desperately to experience true solitude so he designs his life to allow for it, but because of the turmoil going on within his soul he cannot break away from socializing constantly with others because Loneliness, not Solitude, would immediately enter in.
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