Solitude Over Noise

Now, those two do not necessarily seem like opposites. But I hope by the end of this post you understand why I still chose those to descriptors for this topic.

I do think we have gotten really good at creating 'noise' around us.

Noise that keeps us from discovering who we truly are, what we truly want, and what we need to heal.

While it’s easy to blame noise on phones or social media, I believe the issue runs deeper. I think the root issue is this believe that we live with a view of the future that pretty much promises doom, an economy that seems to be on the brink of crashing and rising living costs that seem to drown us. So, leaving reality to relieve the underlying stress, hopelessness and frustration with the world is a fair reaction.

Ongoing Distraction

The thing is, those reactions do not actually help us in anyway besides letting us forget for a short moment what is happening around us - pretending things will be okay - or encouraging us in our fatalism because they support the viewpoint we've already adapted and strenghten our hopelesness, with that increasing our inclination for depression and anxiety.

But Social Media is not the only drug we rely on, so can be 'eating healthy', 'working out', 'romantic relationships', pretty much everything we do not to face the uncertainty, hopelessness, anxiety, fears can become a drug we use to avoid actually dealing with ourselves and the world we live in.

We have become great at creating distractions, both productive and unproductive ones. But what most us need most is quiet solitute and facing what we are dealing with in the inside. Our worries and fears about the future, the hopelesness we are feeling. Because only once we face 'the monster' we might realize that it is not that bad. Not as hopeless, not as scary as we thought it was.

All We Need?

And I am not talking about trying to fix things - but just realizing what we are feeling, what we are avoiding. That will give us the chance to actually adress those things, maybe look deeper into what is really going on, challenging our beliefs and maybe just maybe create a different reality for the future.

Because what if our generations actually have everythin we need to create a future worth living for. What if we have all the knowledge, understanding, community that we need to change the world together?

If only we took the time to be still and lean into our fears, the issues we are facing and running at them head on.

I do believe we find the strength for that in solitute, in the quiet place - where we really get to know ourselves, where we can form our identity, our values, our ideas.

Into Solitude

So if solitude is what we need to begin this shift—how do we step into it?

For me it starts with a time of meditation in the morning, as a christian this is focused on connecting with God through stillnes, and prayer. However if you are not christian or religion interessted, meditation is still very valuable. Actually chosing to come to a moment of silence and creating a place for your mind to be still. Fully setteling into the present.

This is also a time for me to think about what the day ahead:

• What needs to get done?

• What is important?

• What are my intentions?

• How does a successful day look like?

This helps me to on a day by day step focus on what I care about, what is important to me. There is still lots of chaos throught my day, but there is still more focus, more intention than just heading into my day like I did before. I actually have a goal(s) to work towards.

For most days I am not using my phone, until I am done with that 'routine'. Some days, but only on my day off, I might stay in bed longer and use my phone. But I am starting more and more to dislike those days because I feel increasingly worse that when I do not use my phone till after.

Another way I am seeking or choosing solitude, is to be intentional with doing things without any background music or distraction going on. I started to go on walks with my dog, or runs withouth listening to something. To take it as a time to think, reflect or just give my mind some space to go different places. Sometimes those places are good, sometimes those places are not so good, it is not a time for me to judge, but to feel and think what I need to. Very often I come out of those walks with more clarity on situations, a better understanding of how I am feeling or at the least an understanding of where I need help from someone else to deal with a situation.

Solitude Into Community

As we spent time in solitude and our ideas, values and identity form - intentional community becomes necessary. What do I mean with that? I am talking about friends, mentors, family members that I can bounce my thought back and forth with. People who I trust and who know me well enough to speak into no my life, encourage and challenge the things that are forming.

This is necessary and important so we don't lose ourselvs in the world we build in our minds, that is not connected to reality.

In this balance of giving ourselvs time to be with ourselvs and then seeking community which creates a healty lifestyle where I do beliefe we find answers, answers for the questions we ask ourselvs and maybe even answers for the questions our neighborhoods ask. I do hope that it is in this balance, that we'll find the solutions for the problems our generations face.

So I can only strongly encourage you to pursue solitude, to take time with yourself, in quiet - however that looks for you. And I hope that you will finde answers and ideas you didn't think you could find.