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 and ploymath Goethe,  discovered that creative inspiration came only when he was alone.  Winnicott, the pediatrician and 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 described his communion with nature as “Every walk is a type of crusade,” –a journey to venture one’s inner being where one meets his inner guide.

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 social values are fragile. They may even be borrowed to keep up with the social trends. It may be to the extent that at times, one might need to hide his true self or it could no longer be distinguished from the social self image or virtual self.

In the thick of ceaseless flow of information and influential currents, a pause for solitude may serve as an antidote to distractions. We can turn our attention in, converse with out inner guide to discern the truth and attest our true being. It can 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 laureate 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 path for inspiration to gush forth, and kindles sparks of lucidity where one is propelled to get in touch with his true self.

Duygu Bruce
March 9, 2020