Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn.   –David Whyte

“One wonders only when he is alone, and seeks the truth, ” said Einstein. The great thinker Goethe said that creative inspiration comes only when he is alone. Winnicott, one of my favorite psychologists, defines “the capacity to stay on his own” as a crucial indicator of child development.

H.D. Thoreau, the notable American philosopher and nature lover proclaimed that he made his spiritual discoveries during his walks in nature. He wrote in Walden that being on his own in nature provided him abundant inspiration to write and “to connect to his spiritual spring” which he deemed essential to “preserve his health and spirit.” He describes his communion with nature as “Every walk is a type of crusade”, –a journey to venture to reach one’s inner being.

Yet it takes courage to be on our own even for a few moments in today’s society where extraversion, social networks and influence makers are highly valued. Esteem, well-being and identity measured by the prevalent values may be fragile and even borrowed to keep up the social pace -to the extent that one might need to hide his true self at times or furthermore, one’s genuine self could no longer be distinguished from the ideal social or virtual self.  In the thick of ceaseless flow of information and influential stimulus, a pause for solitude may serve as an antidote to discern the truth and to attest our true being. It may even be a curative remedy to preserve one’s health and spirit as Thoreau has self-assessed in his moments of solitude hundred fifty years ago.

On the courageous quality of solitude, the Nobel awarded German philosopher Herman Hesse wrote in his book If the War Goes on :

A man must be indifferent to the possibility of falling, if he wants to taste solitude and to face up to his own destiny. It is easier and sweeter to walk with people… It is easier and more comforting to devote oneself to the tasks of every day…but solitude is inner work.

Addressing the youth on what it takes to know oneself :

You were made to be yourselves. You were made to enrich the world with a sound, a tone, a shadow. […] In each one of you there is a hidden being, still in the deep sleep of childhood. Bring it to life! In each one of you there is a call, a will, an impulse of nature, an impulse toward the future, the new, the higher. Let it mature, let it resound, nurture it! Your future is not this or that; it is not the money or power, or success at your trade –your future, your hard dangerous path is this: to mature and to find God in yourselves.

Such inner work has sort of a transcendent quality which surpasses oneself tightly confined in the daily habits and whims of the ego. It clears the haze for  inspiration and creative impulse to gush forth and kindles sparks of mental lucidity where one is propelled to get in touch with his true self.

Duygu Bruce
March 9, 2020