Owning Your Solitude

The word solitude often conjures up images and notions of being lonely and morose but that’s far from the truth. The word is derived from the Latin word ‘solus‘ meaning alone but as many of us have discovered, alone does not necessarily equal being lonely.

Our lives, even the ones orchestrated and managed by us, can accumulate a lot of noise.

The daily dances we do with our family, friends, colleagues and everyone else can and does cause a lot of sensory overload. And sleeping on it doesn’t always prove adequate either. Imagine if all it took for our stresses and stressors to get wiped out was by a few nights of sound sleep, the world would be a better place all around!

Owning your solitude doesn’t need one to excise themselves from their family and daily lives in a drastic way but the first thing to do is accept if you genuinely want to see where it could lead.

It may not be something that you are cut out for; you might be able to recharge yourself better while in the midst of a group of people or more high octane activities. ‘You do you‘ being the mantra that gets doled out more frequently these days and it actually does make quite a bit of sense.

But when taking stock of life and the responsibilities that each individual takes one; willingly or unwillingly, it is often necessary to have the time and place where you give yourself the gift of solitude. It could from meditation, trips far from the madding crowd or just carving out a bit of time for yourself where your mind isn’t running to-do lists all day long and you can just BE.

As we grow older, the need to know oneself better becomes imperative and the ways of doing this may be varied but still need to be prioritized for our own wellness. If solitude is what beckons to you, don’t turn away from it…it could lead to rejuvenation, realization and a much-needed release.