The Dangers of Solitude
Much has been said about the boons of solitude but far too little about its dangers. Solitude is a double edged sword. On the one hand it can inspire deep reflection, on the other hand it can induce stagnation. The independence of solitude can lead to a dependence on it. What appears to be conducive to growth can become restrictive to growth.
I look back on two writers, across two continents and two civilisations, whose words and warnings on the dangers of solitude resonate centuries later. The first is the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the second is the Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda.
Writing in the mid-nineteenth century, Emerson wrote:
“It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
Emerson recognised our tendency to cave in to the opinions of the majority. It is easy. It is convenient. It is safe. When we don’t want to submit to the will of the majority, we avoid the majority in an attempt to escape the burden of living with it. To Emerson, this was a sign of weakness. Instead he advocated developing the ability to be independent in the midst of the crowd.
A few decades after Emerson, Vivekananda echoed this thought when he said:
"Live in the midst of the battle of life. Anyone can keep calm in a cave or when asleep. Stand in the whirl and madness of action and reach the Centre. If you have found the Centre, you cannot be moved."
The vigour in Vivekananda’s language is reflective of the audience he mainly spoke to - the demoralised and depressed masses who he sought to energise. His message is also a critique of those who saw spirituality as a lazy means to avoid the battles of the world. Vivekananda saw spirituality as a way of life which enabled one to engage more actively in the world, not to retire from it.
These are lofty ideals to live by. They were as difficult to achieve then as they are to achieve now. Yet look how fresh and relevant the words of these two stalwarts are today. In the hyper-connected lives that we lead today, we must struggle to find the "Centre", and carry it with us as we head into the crowd.
