Just Solitude and Life

“Be alone-that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.”- Nikola Tesla 

Clutching on to the sheets, he lay flat on the bed, staring at nothingness on the ceiling above. Seconds go by, then minutes, then hours. He lay there unperturbed, just not being able to find the energy to get

up. He was alone in the house. So what is it he is experiencing? Loneliness, you would say and you that wouldn’t be far from the truth. But how can it be, when he has always been that sprightly happy-go-lucky kind of a person you’d call the soul of the party. How come that this cheerful unworried guy is feeling loneliness? Isn’t that emotion reserved for the frail and feeble? 

Loneliness, like love, hate, anger and spite, is one of the many emotional states we all experience at some point of time in our lives. Solitude in contrast to loneliness may even be desirable at times. I prefer solitude over companionship any day. I’ve always wondered why contemporary society focuses so much on sociability. I mean what can be a better company than your own. Right? I look around and see people pronouncing loners a little strange even though I believe they are perfectly all right. Do you know what is the harshest most vicious punishment given to a convict in the prison? Solitary confinement. How that is the harshest punishment is beyond my understanding. Yes, I understand the sociological reasons for the punishment. But I just can’t get my head around it. I mean one can fully understand one’s gamut of emotions, and the reason for being while living in solitude, which obviously isn’t possible while living a highly communal life. Call it a blessing in disguise then that forced solitude is beneficial and desirable. Solitude gives us the space for self-reflection and introspection. It gives us the fuel needed to dive deep into our consciousness and find reasons or explanations to our anxieties, anger, envy, distress and so on. 

Einstein preferred self solitude and often remained with his thoughts for months at a stretch. He found communication devices such as telephones horrible because of their ringing and preferred to stay away from them. He went sailing at times, alone, immersed in his thoughts. I don’t need to extol the most

brilliant and exceptional person who ever lived to sell solitude as some universal remedy. All great thinkers, philosophers, inventors and leaders have sought solitude. But to think that only great people need solitude would be missing the point entirely. I have actively longed for solitude and experienced that it transcends human thoughts and values. One actively learns to engage with oneself through one’s own company, giving rise to transcendental experiences in the process. As someone once said, “If you are lonely when you are alone, you’re in bad company.” 

For me solitude is bliss and I would never want to miss an opportunity to enjoy my own company. Some people call it a little too narcissistic for their liking, but I call it a necessity in today's fast-paced life. Of course, not everybody agrees, as for some solitude is akin to experiencing obscurity, the beginning of the end. 

- Sunny Gusain

*Views are personal