Solitude: A retreat to the self

The pandemic, with all its evils, has allowed us to step back and look at ourselves. It enforced a period of isolation, of withdrawal from the daily world, into one of introspection. In many cultures, there are periods of withdrawal from the wider group, the ordinary life that claims most of our time and attention. As the stoic philosopher, Epictetus said, If a person cannot be content in his own company he cannot be happy around others. In fact, to seek happiness we must turn inwards.

In everyday life, amid goals, targets, and people, horizons have shrunk and everything is short-range. Years pass by without us noticing, and we have no time to stand still or take stock of our lives. T S Eliot said, "Our lives are mostly an evasion of ourselves.” But a step back into solitude gives us the chance to look at the big picture.

Too many things we have taken for granted, the good people around, nature in all her bounty, the glorious colours of the sunrise and the sunset, the little birds carrying the sky on their back, the music of the leaves and more. Being alone, we can come close to that Supreme Intelligence we call God and his mysterious ways because God can be found only in immaculate silences.

The Renaissance poet-philosopher Petrarch says, “Solitude rehabilitates the soul, corrects morals, renews affections, erases blemishes, purges faults and reconciles man and God”. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, talking about the “contemplative life” concludes that contemplation is the highest human activity, a life characterised by solitude and prayer.

Solitude suggests not loneliness but serenity, the freedom to plug and unplug from the metaphor of our connectivity. The medium of thinking as the German Korean philosopher Byung- Chul- Han constantly reminds us, is quiet.

Solitude is a confrontation with hidden regrets, angst, alienation and fears. Every choice you made directed your life along a particular path. At the same time, it is a poignant reminder of “roads not taken”. It is a reconciliation too with the trajectory of your life in the given circumstances.

Solitude is like the French philosopher Montaigne says is a step back from ordinary life, the better to leap into it next time. So take that lonely walk up that road.