Solitude

Today, the world is more connected within itself than it has been in its entire existence. A number of devices, channels and media are available for us to convey and confirm our emotions, opinions and doubts from people we may have never eve spoken to before.

However, there is one facet which has probably lost its charm, and even been turned into this daunting, unwanted experience. Today, let’s talk about this “alone” facet of life.

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.

– Aristotle

Week 2, and the new year is officially no more. All the time that we took to go to our families for the holidays is done. The feeling of proximity to our loved ones, which in my humble opinion is getting lost somewhere in age of digital engagement, which ironically is meant to bring us together.

Back to work, says the world!

And since we are back to work, here I am, presenting yet another, interesting (at least to me), facet of life.

As I just alluded to, we are more connected than we have ever been in today’s world. But interestingly, the level of psychological issues like anxiety, depression, loneliness and other, more lethal ones, are at an all time high. There has to be something we can do. Maybe another social media app?

Turns out, the social media apps are the biggest culprits of this scenario today. Social media has actually led to a phenomenon called social isolation. This is where people, through seeing others living their best lives, develop feelings of inferiority about themselves.

Well, this was the negative, the darker side of isolation, but there is another kind of people whom we perceive to be isolated, but they don’t exhibit the symptoms we just discussed. These people seem perfectly contented with their situations in life, no matter what the situations are.

I’m thinking of people who “renounce” the world, and claim to be “one” with everything around them. I’m thinking of people, who have by now garnered revering of people, akin to Gods (and rightfully so, I might add), like Gautam Buddha, Sai Baba and Neem Karori Baba.

(While South Asian people might be familiar with the names I have mentioned here, for anyone else who might be wondering, these are deities to certain groups within the Indian subcontinent.)

These are people who have embraced solitude, and have added such substantial value that people are following in their footsteps even after thousands of years of their initial teachings being documented.

Some people, take following in their footsteps literally, but more often than not end up in situations similar to the group that we discussed about towards the beginning of this article.

This begs the question, what is the difference between the two groups?

I believe that there is a key point that is missing in this scenario, which is the difference between being lonely and being alone. The words are pretty similar on the face of it.

Being lonely is a state of mind, wherein you feel abandoned. You feel stranded on an island, completely unreachable to the rest of the world. You feel that people can’t or don’t want to “be there for you”. You feel targeted, unsupported, left behind, considering yourself different from everyone else.

Being alone, however, has a couple of connotations. This might be a situation where you don’t have people around you, but you’re still alright. It might not be the case where you are always over the top, filled with optimism and positivity, but you’re still okay with being with yourself.

Now how does one achieve this state of nirvana? There are a number of theories out there which talk about how one can embrace solitude.

Some people say that developing confidence in oneself helps. Others talk about understanding yourself completely gives you the liberation to enjoy your company and be at ease in situations that make most tremble, just at the thought.

Do I know the right answer, I don’t know. But hey, my goal is to make you, my beloved reader, think about things like these. So have fun. 🙂

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂