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Solitude gives strength
to the soul BEING alone is not the same as being lonely. Nor is it a curse. Lots of people prefer to be alone by choice because solitude encourages reflection. A writer goes to his room with his brain brimming with ideas and emerges only when he has put down these ideas on paper. Rabindranath Tagore spent hismornings in solitude at Santiniketan planning or writing stories. He spent most of his time walking in open spaces under the sun and in the shade of trees. Two essential conditions for the progress of the individual are isolation and discipline. Down the ages, from the times of Socrates to the present, almost every person who has achieved something has lived alone because every worthwhile venture or work calls for hours of aloneness. To write a book, a
novel, a drama, compose a poem, or paint a picture needs hours of work
alone and of continuous introspection, away from the maddening crowds. A
worthwhile accomplishment needs seclusion and sacrifice. |
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Man is a social animal but aloneness is also essential for his fulfilment. Dependence on the self give one a feeling of independence. In solitude a dialogue with one’s own soul becomes possible. The writer of the book Gift from the Sea, narrates a wonderful experience. She describes how she tore herself away from domesticity and senseless social life and went to live in a small isolated cabin by the sea shore. This enabled her to find her real moorings as she quietly pondered over the beauties and bounties of nature. She returned home a different human being — vitally nourished in the spirit. To be content and at ease, we need spells of solitude. The fear of loneliness can be countered and conquered by walking alone or reading and by from distractions and busybodies. One may eventually graduate to a longer stay in a quieter environment. It will be like being in paradise. In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself. "Conversation enriches the
understanding, but solitude is the school of the genius", says
Gibbon. |
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