SOLITUDE

AKEEL PEERZADA

Solitude is marked by the state of being or living in isolation either due to bad relationships, or by one’s own choice or it may due to the combination of both.  Solitude is not avoiding others it is actually the state of being with you to overcome exhaustion. Spending time without any external turmoil is quiet soothing, peaceful and pleasant. One should take out some time from his busy schedule to mend his life or we can say problematic situations in isolation and especially when one is going through lots of ups and downs. One should be grateful if he/she is finding peace in solitude, because the present Era is full of mischievous and disturbed moments.

Solitude is often considered as loneliness, but there is a considerable difference between solitude and loneliness. Loneliness is the feeling of being alone, unwanted, empty, void and is also fortified with physical pains. Loneliness is very harmful and murderous; if left untreated can lead to the depression which is a mental disorder characterized by loss of interest in activities. While as solitude is the state of being in isolation without being lonely. There is a lot of confusion between ‘Solitude’ and ‘Loneliness’, but it is very clear that both terms are different in meaning.  

‘Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius; and the uniformity of a work denotes the hand of a single artist.’

Edward Gibbon

Gibbon’s thoughts, perspectives are well-crafted, as almost all the writers, artists, painters; novelists spend much of their time alone as Gibbon himself did. The capacity to be alone is a valuable resource when changes of mental attitude are required. Solitude at the same time has both positive and negative psychological effects and these effects depend on the time a person spends in isolation. We will discuss both positive and negative influences.

POSITIVE INFLUENCES:

• Freedom from disturbance,
• Creativity is sparked.
• Mind gets refreshed.
• Solitude provides us ample time to grow our personal spirituality and self-examination.
• Positive changes in behavior.
• Provides time to explore new things around us.
• Gives us much pleasure and tranquility.
• Takes us to that world where we never imagine going.
• Words become our friends and as loyal as stars.
• The arousal of new thoughts, creativity and sense of maturity.
• We become more and more associated with poetry and peace.
• Gives us chances to take decisions. 

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES:

• Loss of social contact.
• Solitude can trigger physiological responses that increases health deterioration. 
• Risk of indulging in bad activities.
• Can lead to depression.
• We become more alien than human.
• We detach ourselves from friendly environment.
• Entering into new world means forgetting the old one.
• We prefer to spend time in solitude instead of spending it with family and friends. 

Short-term solitude is often considered to be fruitful as one may think, work or do some other activity without getting disturbed. On the other side long-term solitude can sometimes have drastic impact and increases the risk of getting involved in unfruitful activities. Long-term solitude is usually seen as undesirable, causing lonesomeness or detachment resulting from inability to establish relationships and may even lead to clinical depression. For some people it may not cause any problem and can help them attain spiritual wisdom. If we talk about ‘Monks’ and ‘Saints’ they are more associated with solitude to gain sense of spiritualism. Their thirst never fades away and they are more than willing to attain their spiritual freedom. However, solitude could be harmful to those who just want to pull out their frustrations of failure, break ups, family issues or worthlessness.  

Paul Brunton said, ‘Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines.’