The seclusion illusion.
/Ever feel like your life has gotten a little too loud?
My life is full of so many lovely people, so many good relationships. And I couldn't survive without them. But sometimes...
Sometimes there are so many voices, so many conversations, and so much activity that my solitude-craving inner introvert just flips out a little. And I start to crave a getaway.
Right now, I deeply desire a bit of isolation.
Now honestly, this doesn't work so well in practice. I spent most of two weeks on my own once, and ended up crying into the carpet. I need people.
So I cultivate the idea of isolation instead. I snoop through photos that conjure up a mood of loneliness, that feeling of a big fat moat between me and the noisy world. And if I borrow enough austerity, maybe it will bring my mind back to a clear, calm, focused place.
I did some online exploring and rounded up seven places where I can imagine myself into a solitary writing getaway... Which one tempts you the most?
1. where I would write and read essays, and probably make some really delicious salads...
2. where I'd wear thick socks at night, and write some sort of neo-Bronte thriller...
3. where I'd sit outside eating PBJs and working up a brilliant children's series...
4. where I'd create those mysteries I have in mind... I'd light candles and write all night long...
5. where I'd write that multigenerational saga, and probably, accidentally, some poetry too...
6. where I'd make scones every afternoon at four, and write a series of hilarious women's novels...
7. where I'd write an existential play and take up smoking. Probably...
Oh, solitude. How I pine for you. (Without the massive emotional letdown, of course.)
Doris Lessing said, "Writers are often asked, 'How do you write? With a word processor? An electric typewriter? A quill? Longhand?' But the essential question is, 'Have you found a space, that empty space, which should surround you when you write?' Into that space, which is like a form of listening, of attention, will come the words, the words your characters will speak, ideas--inspiration."
So here's to staying surrounded by the people I love, while cultivating a bit of empty space where the words can ring.
