Wednesday, January 16, 2013

365 Inspirations—16: Solitude

"It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts."—K.T. Jong

Solitude is my inspiration for day 16. Well, at least I found inspiration in my time alone. We all need time to ourselves to ponder, dream and scheme about life. I spend quite a deal of time with my husband because he's my best male friend and companion and we enjoy similar activities, but every now and then it's good to do something on my own.

I had a break between classes at the college where I teach. This morning, before my earlier class, I packed my car with gloves, a hat, a scarf and boots just in case I felt like going for a walk after class.

The sun was shining bright and I hopped on the freeway and drove directly to Greenlake. I slipped off my work shoes and put on my walking boots, hat, scarf and gloves and began walking the three-mile loop around the lake.

I tried to feel my feet in my shoes and the cold wind on my face. I stopped to take a picture of many ducks on a log sunning themselves.



I wanted to be aware of all the sights and sounds around me. I walked close to the edge of the lake and could hear the waves lapping against the shore. I saw a man writing in his journal on a bench, some people were running around the lake, others were speed walking and some were meandering like me. There were lots of moms and strollers and most people were walking in pairs or groups, but there were also a few people walking alone like me.

I stopped to take a picture of my shadow. It followed me half-way around the lake and it sort of felt like I was walking with a friend. When I took out my cell phone to take a photo, I noticed that my husband had called me. I decided to call him back.

"Where are you?" he asked.
"Well, I'm more than halfway around Greenlake," I replied.

He was on his way to Greenlake to do the very same thing I was doing. He decided to walk the opposite direction than he usually does and we ran into each other near the end of the walk.

It was the best of both worlds. We each got to experience solitude while walking around our favorite lake in Seattle and we also got to meet up at the end. We went to PCC (our local, organic supermarket) for a bit of dinner afterwards and I felt so refreshed.

Do you enjoy solitude? How do you spend your alone time?

8 comments:

  1. Yes I love solitude. Always have. I love hiking to a place of solitude in the wilderness and just letting the silence speak to me.

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    1. This is wonderful. And the silence often has so much to share with us if we let it in!

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  2. P.S. your blog always leaves me with a sense of calmness after reading it :)

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  3. I love and need solitude. I spend a lot of time with my husband, too, and I love that. But sometimes I need to be alone with my thoughts or a good book. When I'm around people for an extended period, I can feel myself getting anxious. I find that being alone helps me regroup and recover.

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    1. I can relate to this Tina. I'm not good in crowds. One or two people is enough for me at a time. The interesting thing is that I'm an ESL teacher and have over 90 students this quarter. Silence and quiet are so important for me because I'm often with so many people in my job!

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  4. Sounds like a wonderful walk, and I love the bit of serendipity with your husband at the end. On the topic of silence and solitude, I have just registered for my first ever 10-day Vipassana practice in April and would love any tips that you have for this beginner!

    Great to hear that you are writing another book - I look forward to it!

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    1. Hi there! Send me an e-mail! I'd love to share my experiences with you!

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