“Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.”
– Paul Tillich
I was reading a blog yesterday in which the writer was saying that she always could sense in herself when she wasn’t getting enough solitude. She felt edgy, snappy, frustrated and a little bit of almost crawling out of her skin. I love when I read something that I completely relate to, because I need solitude in the same way that the writer does and I have not been getting much of it lately, with the renovations going on in our home. I am trying to be my own little quiet island in the middle of a beehive, and it isn’t working so well. I wonder if a lot of writers crave solitude?
I have another friend who doesn’t seem to like being alone at all. Her life is the beehive and she is the Queen Bee. This friend seems to be always wanting to expand her beehive in all directions. I love having friends like her because when my self-imposed solitude turns to loneliness, I know that I always have someone to go out with, or to chat with. She is the busy bee in my life who knows all about the fun, public, social happenings going on and she’s usually in the center of it all.
I suppose the key is sensing in yourself when you are in a state of delicious, tranquil, meditative solitude versus despairing, paranoiac, angst-filled loneliness. The cure to my anxiety, when I am overstimulated and distracted, is to get to a place where I can bathe in my secluded, peaceful, solitude and the cure to my loneliness is the nearby buzzing of the beehive which seems always open for more energy and more expression.
“In loneliness I have no one but myself. In solitude I have God.” – anonymous