In this video Einzelgänger explains how when used wisely, solitude can be a great source of strength.
Key Takeaways
The fear of being alone often frightens people. Most would agree that being alone forever isn’t a desirable position to be in. However, being separated form the herd for a little while to spend time by yourself can benefit us immensely.
Human beings are social creatures. Nevertheless, there are many human beings throughout the ages that chose to live a solo life.
Anthony the Great was one of the desert fathers. Christian monks that withdrew from society to live in the deserts of Egypt and follow God. Despite the seclusion, the deer fathers were highly influential on the development of Christianity.
Since ancient times, Buddhist monks spent time alone. Sometimes many months to deepen their meditation practice, and simply because they noticed happiness comes from within, and does not require the presence of other people.
Our current society doesn’t seem to like loners. The herd of today cannot stand lone participation.
People that prefer being alone seem to evoke suspicion. First they are ridiculed. “Must be a crazy person or no one likes them” Then they are feared. “Are they preparing a terroist attack? Could they be a serial killer? Or maybe a witch?
In popular culture, villains are often depicted as solitary creatures. Gloom from Lord of the rings, the Joker from Batman, or Gargamel from the Smurfs. So does that really mean that solitude is bad for you? Not at all.
Solitude can be a blessing. And science has proven that spending time alone can have tremendous benefits. If used wisely, solitude can be a powerful tool for achieving health, happiness, and success.
Being alone is a great opportunity for reflection.
By reflecting on life, you can find out what direction to go, what to avoid in the future, and instead of running through life like headless chicken, you can plan ahead, and make a conscious decision to close certain doors and open new ones.
And when we have created our game plan, it’s time for the execution.
Another power of solitude is productivity.
When we spend time alone, we are less likely to be distracted by other people. Of course its essential that we don’t replace human interaction with other distractions like binge watching series on Netflix, swiping away on dating apps, and the endless rabbit hole of funny clips on social media.
So if you want to be productive in solitude, you might want to cut back your time spent on the internet—deactivating your Facebook account and throwing your smart phone in the river. If you have done that, you are ready to accomplish the great things you have dreamed of. Like Nikola Tesla.
Tesla was a lifelong bachelor, and a true hermit, and he made great contributions to the world. To optimize his creativity, he secluded himself resulting in a laser sharp focus.
Many artists and authors spend time away from the noisy society to work on a project.
"Without great solitude no great work is possible."
Solitude doesn’t just benefit performance. It also puts us in a position to explore and embrace ourselves.
Meditation is an ancient practice in which we observe not our thoughts, but also our emotions and physical sensations as well. By observing ourselves, we ind out what’s going on in our body and mind. Inside in ourselves helps us make better life decisions.
If we learn to appreciate our own company, we become less dependent on other human beings.
Some people have the tendency to cling to others, and often times they cling to people that aren’t good company. Many relationships are destructive, but people stay in them because they fear the thought of being alone.
If you’re content being alone, it’s easy to walk away from people that aren’t good for us.
An overlooked benefit of solitude is the opportunity to cultivate love.
This may sound bit strange if we assume that cultivating love can only be done by interaction. The key is that when we are alone, we aren’t spending time with a certain group of friends or coworkers, which makes us free from in-group preferences.
In solitude we are able to see the bigger picture and cultivate love for a much wider range of people. A common practice among the Buddhist is metta-meditation, which evokes love and kindness towards all beings in the universe.
So if you want to be more compassionate, loving, productive, and gain more insight in yourself, consider harvesting the power of solitude.