There is no solitude like that of being at home alone
It is deeper than the prayer of monastery or retreat
Softer than the quietude of chapels and libraries
Rarer than holidays
More silent than the night
More nourishing than the freshly baked bread that I devour
On my own
So lovely and wise. There is nothing more nourishing that home alone solitude and something I crave and actively look forward to. It’s a need I like to meet. Me, home, alone.
All grateful Jo
Love Car
I’ve decided I’m not going away on holiday again until I’ve met my needs for home alone – that might take three years! Thanks for your comment and for the retweet. 🙂
Hmm. I can see the attraction of home as refuge after a heavy day, buyt to be honest, I get too much solitude. Waking up in an empty bed and eating on your own day after day isn’t healthy. I look at the elderly people on the dialysis unit and suspect they’re better off socially than those elderly people healthier than they but wqho rarely get out of the house or talk to anybody.
That is a very good and very important point. Thank you for reminding me of the harsh and stark reality of too much solitude for many. I shall appreciate my solitude even more now I’m aware of how important it is to have it in the right quantity.
very true and self-honest. Being home alone is my altimate joy. Just hearing the silence and moving in it, its a great fertile enviroment for creativity.
Thanks Alia. In fact I think it’s an essential component of creativity. But for the past four years, I have only been able find solitude by going out of the house. Solitude in Starbucks just isn’t the same as solitude at home. Here’s to our creativity!
This is the first day I’ve had at home alone since having my baby 9 months ago. I go back to work on Monday and she’s practising being at the childminder’s.
I had a huge list of things to do with today’s freedom but I just want to sit in the quiet. Not even Radio 4 is on!
(childminder juts rung – baby not settling so is being dropped off to me at 1pm. Half excited to see baby and half disappointed won’t have more hours to myself…)
Thanks for your comment, Amelia – you don’t need me to tell you that I totally empathise. That sitting quietly without so much as the radio on, isn’t classed as anything. It’s not “productive.” It’s not something to tick off a “to do” list. And yet it’s essential.
I also empathise with the ambivalence – both missing your baby and yet desperately needing time on your own. I still feel that, even four years on.
Really good luck with that transition back into work – it’s a big one. I hope it goes well and that you manage (somehow) to find a way of integrating some quiet time into an impossibly busy life.
Hi Jo Ind like your post! There’s really no solitude like home. I don’t have a baby yet and I really can’t relate with the other comments but I like to share that the peace of mind I have at home is incomparable to any other place. At home, I’m with my family whom I know will protect me as long as they could.
Thanks Carson – there’s no place like home (and other cliches)
A deep and introspective post, Jo. Solitude. Peace. Tranquility. Safety. Makes one realize the importance of others and how we need them in our lives. Thanks for the realization.
Colin
Thousand Oaks Property Management
I really liked your poem. I am a home body at heart and a couple of business trips took me away for a month each.
I need my alone time, so went for long walks, but was really happy to get back home, to the quiet, my own things I enjoy, etc.