Rilke's letter about trying to spend an hour of solitude in defiance to family dynamics really hit home. My mother thought I was crazy for many reasons, but most of all because I sequestered myself in my room when I wasn't at school or work. I should at least try to have friends and get along with people, right? Well, now that I'm old (75), I relish my silent hours at home. Social occasions vex me and always have. I was always that first person to leave the gathering, no matter how glorious and fun it was for everyone else. Solitaries can only take so much.
And all that before the age of screens. Nowadays, when people pride themself in "loving solitude" they often spend those hours glued to a screen. When people today say things like, "Ugh, I hate people" (cf. Sylvia Plath) they often immerse themselves in a world of digital and online people, real or fictitious.
These letters are an ode to TRUE solitude, just me, myself and my soul.
As D.H. Lawrence put it "Better sit quite still in one’s own room, and possess one’s own soul."
I relate to Saul Bellow the most - "I love solitude, but I prize it most when plenty of company is available." Yes it is wonderfully freeing and peaceful to be alone and escape for a while, sometimes a long while, but it's much less so when there is no one there when you are ready to return. It's a balance that takes some achieving.
I love the Garbo reference, but apparently what she said was: "I never said I wanted to be alone, I said I wanted to be let alone. There is a world of difference."
Rilke's letter about trying to spend an hour of solitude in defiance to family dynamics really hit home. My mother thought I was crazy for many reasons, but most of all because I sequestered myself in my room when I wasn't at school or work. I should at least try to have friends and get along with people, right? Well, now that I'm old (75), I relish my silent hours at home. Social occasions vex me and always have. I was always that first person to leave the gathering, no matter how glorious and fun it was for everyone else. Solitaries can only take so much.
Genuinely intriguing...
And all that before the age of screens. Nowadays, when people pride themself in "loving solitude" they often spend those hours glued to a screen. When people today say things like, "Ugh, I hate people" (cf. Sylvia Plath) they often immerse themselves in a world of digital and online people, real or fictitious.
These letters are an ode to TRUE solitude, just me, myself and my soul.
As D.H. Lawrence put it "Better sit quite still in one’s own room, and possess one’s own soul."
Not many can do that today.
I relate to Saul Bellow the most - "I love solitude, but I prize it most when plenty of company is available." Yes it is wonderfully freeing and peaceful to be alone and escape for a while, sometimes a long while, but it's much less so when there is no one there when you are ready to return. It's a balance that takes some achieving.
To be alone in the house is now my greatest pleasure. Even a mouse annoys me.
- Virginia Woolf
Oh! I can so relate to that.
My fellow feeling is strong with everyone!
I love the Garbo reference, but apparently what she said was: "I never said I wanted to be alone, I said I wanted to be let alone. There is a world of difference."
Thanks!
Thanks so much. I get so tired of the “Bowling Alone” crap. Give me my home alone and I am content.
These are my people.❤️