Saturday Morning

~ Live & Learn

late summer

Solitude isn’t loneliness.

Solitude is when the entire serene universe

seems to surround and hold you quietly.

— Victoria Erickson

Notes: Quote via Counselling Blog. Photo by Marta Bevacqua

41 thoughts on “Saturday Morning”

  5. Isn’t is ‘funny’ how we all here get our wires crossed so often (and in an entirely good way). This week I had some profound discussions about the differences between ‘lonely’ and ‘alone’….. I even did once an upload on Flickr on this theme after an article in a French newspaper (although it is of course a very international and even universal question to be discussed, pondered, and lived through).
    Wonderful photo to go with.
    awakening

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    1. Apologies, when I meant to put in just a link to that post, I accidentally (this one is not a very te h savvy person!) deleted the rest of my comment…..
      The ´lovely photo ´ bit goes to David’s choice, obviously, too!

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      1. Kiki, your thought on lonely vs. alone struck a cord. Reminds me of:

        My solitude is like a big person walking by my side.
        Some might say it is frightening, overbearing,
        cruel. Nothing could be further from the truth. See how
        kindly it takes my hand as we cross the street.

        – Stephen Dobyns from Santiago: Forestal Park in Velocities : new and selected poems, 1966-1992 (Viking/Penguin Books, 1994) (via see more)

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        1. another keeper quote. Tks
          With HH very often away I have been asked if I wasn’t terribly lonely. No, I never am. But I have then much time to think, ponder, wonder. I shall treasure this ´hand holding gentle solitudé. Merci

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    2. Kiki, thought of you again on your “alone” vs “Lonely”

      But being lonely and being alone are not the same, and [Elizabeth] Bishop recognized from a young age that there was something special, even salvific, about the latter. ‘There is a peculiar quality about being alone, an atmosphere that no sounds or persons can ever give,’ she wrote in [her] 1929 essay, “On Being Alone,” ‘It is as if being with people were the Earth of the mind, the land with its hills and valleys, scent and music: but in being alone, the mind finds its Sea, the wide, quiet plane with different lights in the sky and different, more secret sounds.’ I understood this sentiment well, the special beauty of the blue hours when you are, by choice, alone, and the candle of your self burns in a way it never quite can when you are with someone else.

      Gabrielle Bellot, from “Alone with Elizabeth Bishop,” NYR Daily (20 September 2018)

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      1. Made me cry a bit…. the power of words, the power of being able to put one’s thoughts and feelings into words! Thanks a bunch
        (Doing something I absolutely hate doing: In view of our future ((very future as our house has yet to be sold!)) move back to Switzerland I start slowly to ‘weed out’ old correspondance and of course all of it stemming from a time before internet, email etc, it brings back soooo many memories, tears, decisions to ‘am still gonna keep this’ etc and it shows once more the depth of thoughts, convictions, ponderings of times now long gone and yet….. and yet. Suffice to say that the panier with the papers to be thrown out is not heavily filled yet)

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    3. Lori; I don’t know much about you but I know that I appreciate you very much…. So, all the best in your new ‘life’. Moving in itself is a major upheaval (I have moved more than my fair share, even in between countries and continents), you leave things, stuff, maybe people, friends, often workplaces behind, have to get used to different neighbourhoods, creating a ‘new life’ and sometimes new friends, getting the feel of the new land…. God bless and all the best!

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  9. Yes, we can cherish both the solitude and the embrace of all. Had an amazing experience of “this” yesterday when Bobby McFerrin offered a meditation on the Princeton campus (free) with his 4 cohorts. We all got comfortable and silent dring the half hour before. In his meditation, he makes small sounds and the other four chime in with a sound when moved. It’s unplanned, like jazz. If you ever get a chance to experience this, please do. [He’s here for a “regular” performance.]

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  11. Solitude is such a gift…one can experience solitude in the span as small as one minute…just breath deep, embrace the experience…what- ever the time length…
    I do cherish solitude, either by myself or standing with my dear hubby watching the sunrise or the waves drifting in and out, breathing in the scent of life in the forest…solitude creates such enrichment and peace…

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    2. Christie – in a very small way, I envy you deeply…. the waves drifting in and out, breathing in the scent of life in the forest… I so very, very much miss the water, the forests – I’m a Swiss girl from a big town (Zurich) but I always lived close to lakes, rivers, the sea (UK) and the forests were but a 15’ walk away, fact that my dog very much appreciated and the children loved…. the times we have played with our feet in a little stream or in the lake, the BBQ in an opening of the trees or along the beach…. Gives me a sentiment of peace and quiet happiness. Thank You

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