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Solitude: A Comfort and a Curse
by Dominic Angelus

Solitude: an aloneness within yourself. Even though people surround you, there is always that place within yourself that allows you to escape from the world. It is the safe place we run to when we must separate ourselves from this present life.

When chosen on your own accord, feels comforting. You devolve into another world, one unseen by mortal eyes. Many call it a fantasy, but it is actually the reality of your spirit that dwells there. It is there that we are who we truly are, in spirit. The nobleness, as well as it's terror, unfurls in that magical retreat. It is a place to meet angels...or demons...lost friends and family...realize passions...and confront your worst fears. When disciplined, becomes the testing ground for decisions that need to be made and paths to be chosen.

The curse begins when that solitude becomes isolation. It is when forces beyond your control force you to remain alone for a period of time. Aloneness becomes loneliness and a prison instead of freedom. But even in that prison, there is yet a deeper solitude that frees you further within yourself. No man can truly possess the will or soul of a person. Each one of still holds the power to choose how we will grasp that freedom.

Too often in loneliness, we fall into resentment, anger, bitterness....even hatred....for others and ourselves. Those are the very things that strengthen the bars of our prison. In those moments, calm your spirit and find that quietness within yourself. Search for the peace that is eternally in your soul than no mortal nor spirit can ever touch. Travel the depths of your mind and rest there until you can touch the world again.

Refuge exists deep inside you. Search it out and find it. The journey is well worth it for the treasure that you will possess when having discovered it.

Rest well, my friends. ^^V^^

~Dominic Angelus~

"We are born sworn jealous friends of solitude,
of uor deepest, most midnight, most midday solitude." - Nietzsche.

its a comfort i love being by myslef its so quiet and stuff its nice

*hugs my friend* Your words are true, lonliness can be a curse but at times, it can be a gift also. Being alone in the forest actually energizes me, makes me feel better. Yet i tend to like to speak to someone with intelligence too.

Indeed, wise friends can be and are a great source of comfort. In times when we cannot enjoy such benefits, the discipline of solitude provides additional relief. ;)

I liked that a lot....very well-put. Thanks. :)

Very well said Domangelus, the post and the additional comments !

Indeed, very thought provoking and so eloquently put.....thank you.

my brother yet again you make a awesome thread.

Ahhh Dominic....

Perfectly written. The hard part is if it's not silent and calm in the private place in your mind.

*A noteworthy quote*

"But the soul that moves in the world of the senses and yet keeps the sense in harmony, free from attraction and aversion, finds rest in quietness. In this quietness falls down the burden of all her sorrows, for when the heart has found quietness, wisdom has also found peace. There is no wisdom for a man without harmony, and without harmony there is no contemplation. Without contemplation there cannot be peace, and without peace can there be joy?"
-- Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2

Nice. very interesting.

Well written. I enjoy my solitude it is where I find my peace, and even when I am in a crowd of ppl, I can find quiet there. I have sunken deep into the solitude and in the beginning it was peaceful and needed, but than again there was a point I didn't choose to come back out. I think everyone needs that solitude to put their lives and thoughts together, to make sense of a senseless world. I appreciate your thread.

i agree very well written and well put i love solitude but then there are the times i dont but i always seem to go back to my solitude even when im not likin it to much ....... if that made any sense

Aloneness can be a double-edged sword. There needs to be that distinction between SOLITUDE and ISOLATION. Once understood and identified, one can then move from the loneliness and towards peace and freedom.

I believe that it is both. Too much or too little and it's a curse. But everything in moderation.

I agree with everything written.

Solitude was a curse to me when I was younger nowadays I search for it.

However sometimes I search for company and I don't always find it and it becomes a curse again.

I also feel alone even among groups and crowds...don't know if in that case is a curse or a bless....

Beautifully put.
I need my lonelyness. It's a fact.
It's not just a question of space, it's a question of personality.

I am pleased by the favorable response to this thread. The spirit of those posting has been refreshing and encouraging.

I, too, welcome much of my aloneness. It allows for reflection and meditation. At times, I walk the city's downtown, go for quiet drives, shopping, even to the movies. It becomes a curse when that solitude is as a result of fear, bitterness or abuse. It is then that we do need someone close. Never fear to open up to someone in order to find peace, balance and a healthy life. For anyone like that, my door is always open. ;)

wow, well said

I have no further words to add except these previous posts echo my feelings and thoughts exactly...

I enjoy my aloneness and relish what I can reflect and make peace with.... it's the lonliness that I fight to put away and not have it seep out.

Very wise words Domangelus.
When people suffer from 'aloneness', like you say (always learning), maybe something's wrong, because there's nothing positive coming from being alone. There is no learning, only pain.

;)

I find self solitude enlightening at times & also quite healthy. But socialness is also healthy...I would have to say the correct mix of the two is ultimate ;)

I agree moderation should be in everything.

There's a saying:

No man is an island.

Therefore we need company cause it's in outr nature to feel the need of it.

But loneliness is needed as well,it's good to reflect and to build indipendance.

Surround Me by Scott Stapp
Album: The Great Divide

They say no man’s an island but I tend to disagree
I guess they’ve never seen my island,
And where it lies at sea
I’m lost inside my memory.
I’m still in disbelief.
If I could paint a picture for you this is what you’d see

I’m down on my knees
Begging you to rescue me
Please stop me
Don’t let me run
Surround me…Surround me…now

A wounded man sounds desperate when he’s lost all his belief
Can you look into my eyes and say you won’t betray me
We’re running out of time
How precious time can be
I’m counting all the moments of the times you could have helped me

I’m down on my knees
Begging you to rescue me
Please stop me
Don’t let me run
Surround me…Surround me

I’m down on my knees
Begging you to rescue me
Please stop me
Don’t let me run
Surround me…Surround me

Surround me now
Surround me now.

If you don't learn how to live alone, you're fucked.

beautiful.
You're very inspired tonight.

Thank you *Tears*.....I have been basking in my personal solitude. ;) XOXO

Domangelus,
What a beautiful and enlightening thread. I love my solitude, not everyone can understand that, but it is a place to find me. You have magnificent words.. thank you..

Awesome.

I love being alone as well.... AS little as it happens. heh but I also love spending time with my friends.

being alone isnt all what its cut out to be

Domangelus, I've enjoyed reading this thread over and over.... solitude for self enlightment and reflection is a must for all of us...however, do enjoy company of others and there are times that I am just plain lonely.

Some quiet would be wonderful right now....

interesting :)

Only within solitude was I able to find love.

it's nice being alone, but too much alone time can cause insanity...but i love it...especially in the summer...

we can only count on ourselves...its a lone walk, a solitary life when one comes to accept that when it comes down to the bottom line..its about having only our selves when the going gets tuff

I love that! It is soothing to read. I do go inside myself to find comfort, I know I can only live for myself but love all others...

solitude can be comforting when you need it most, but when you don't need it, it friggin sucks, but that's just me ;-)

;)

^^V^^

"It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am the more affection I have for them…. Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say." ~Thomas Merton~

I ♥ being alone

-thinking about death and the hidden meaning for why we were created.

-writing poems

-writing stories

-listening to music

-thinking of the taste of blood♥♥

lol

~Brenda-Jo~

Good quote donangelus. I'll agree, I have a brother. It is so much easier to love him when I'm not anywhere near him ^-^

We are born sworn jealous friends of solitude

solitude is such a blessing when you have been dragged to a party full of distant family members that you couldn't even care less about, so just sitting there thinking of ways of how to 'bite uncle fred' is comforting! :D

I say both, sometimes solitude helps me focus my mind, to concentrate. But before I met my husband I felt my solitude was a curse because I my heart and soul was lonely...I think it depends where you are in your life.

I taught solitude was a heavy burden to carry but after this, it seems more like a freedom for the soul for time to time

I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers.
~Henry David Thoreau~ "Solitude," Walden, 1854


Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.
~Paul Johannes Tillich~ The Eternal Now

It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. ~K.T. Jong

Solitude is definitely my best friend.... There's no pain or suffering caused by others....

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
~William Penn~

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
~Marcus Aurelius~

No my friend, darkness is not everywhere, for here and there I find faces illuminated from within; paper lanterns among the dark trees.
~Carole Borges~

To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet.
~Charles Caleb Colton~

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.
~Eric Hoffer~

To transform the emptiness of lonelinss, to the fullness of aloneness. Ah, that is the secret of life.
~Sunita Khosla~

ok since the last post didn't work i will retype it... i rather enjoy being by myself, it is peaceful and i get more accomplished when i'm alone

one must be either a demon or a god to live alone says Aristotle, leaving out the third option, both.

-Friedrich Nietzche

If it is possable to live life alone then why is it that people like us seek out thers of a like minded sort who we think will eventually leave.

if you have an answer for this message me really i want to know.

P.S. I hope that I was not too hard on this one...

*Worry Worry*

Beautifully said.

I find the greatest parts of myself when left utterly alone.

I find my inner peace and way to achieve an understanding in my solitude. It does consume us if we're alone for long. It is in our natural desire for one thing above all others. The need for a companion. Being alone is nice, but sometimes being near someone can be just as nice as well.

When you are alone you are not alone, you are simply lonely - and there is a tremendous difference between loneliness and aloneness. When you are lonely you are thinking of the other, you are missing the other. Loneliness is absence of the other.

Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive. It is a presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.

~Osho~
The Discipline of Transcendence, Volume 1 Chapter 2

These are some truly great quotes DomAngelus. Thank you for posting them.

in this life solitude is a curse, because the things in my head threaten to destroy me.

~ bump this up to the top ~
This is a great thread Domangelus, enjoy reading it again and again !

I am pleased and humbled by the generous response to this thread. I thank everyone for your kind words and additional insights. ^^V^^


By design, we are all "wired" to want both companionship AND solitude. Each gives to us our greatest joys and deepest hurts, but we strive for them everyday. Companionship gives us comfort through the words and presence of others. Aloneness releases us back to the freedom of our personal thoughts and creativity.
~Dominic Angelus~

Very nicely written, thank you for sharing. It has given me something to think on..

thats pretty deep, although i like to be alone and by myself, ur right it is like a prison at times

I like what you have there. I describes the things I undergo frequently. When the world starts to weigh me down, I simply go into my own mind and dissapear into another world. I just let my mind wander. It's a good way to release negative energy and calm your spirit so you can take on the world once more.

However I have discovered the down side of this ordeal. Sometimes...you get so deep into it, you want to forget about reality and just stay there. Sometimes the world around you gets to the point that you find yourself living in this little place of yours alot.

Your around enough to function, but otherwise...your gone. I've had this happen to me before, back in high school. It got to the point that I was imprisoned in my own mind and I had no means of escape. It took a long time to get free...but I did. I've learned alot from it as well.

No one can truly be alone, unless they choose to be!

interesting :)

Splendid replies. ;)

;)

solitude is everything with no coven or houeses in my area

solitude is the best thing to have in my book

Wow so very true ... I live a very busy lifestyle and find myself at many times surrounded by people yet i feel totally alone within myself ...My mind racing watching observing others while my thoughts consume me and my Darkness takes me over

Nice post, Callia. ;)

As much solitude can at times seem like a curse you can sure miss it when you dont have any.

solitude is at most times, at least for myself a blessing and a comfort, it only becomes a curse when u have 2 much of it, though there are times when you truely wish to be alone, you carnt stay alone, if you do you are taken away from life and the point of living. so generaly a comfort though if taken too much of a curse

seclusion and solitude are golden... However there are times when even I must come out from under the "blanket" and find out what's going on around me.

good post dom

when i'm alone, i think of it as a comfort because there is hardly a time when i get to be alone. i'm surrounded anywhere else i go because people find me "fascinating" and sometimes it's just annoying. the only time i like to be around people is if it's people i trust like my sister Nykae. i guess it's a curse at times also because at times i just want someone to listen to my problems and care for once.... but hey, who really cares about anyone else's problems, but their own?

I love solitude and yet i hate it. your a very deep thinker. i think.

to be alone is to touch ones soul. that i believe. there you find your true self. No one but you knows the real you. Sometimes i feel better being alone. doesnt bother me. But i do believe it can be a curse as well. you speak true.

Thanks for your posts. I appreciate all of your input and comments. ;)

Being alone, stops me from being hurt..

Being in solitude, helps me heal what I need to heal, and gain strength to go through another day, living as a mortal..

It makes me think, helps me write, makes me see, there is more than one ending to any beginning..

dom you are a great teacher and writter

i love solitude! i am very happy when i am alone

Solitude is INDEED both comforting and a curse...at some points in our life, we want or need it, at others, it is forced upon us when we DON'T want nor need it...I like the article, though...very accurate, very nice...

I find it a gift. Not many people can escape to another world like I can. I love it. Being able to toggle back in forth. If I couldn't do it, I wouldn't be able to survive.

Thank you, everyone for your comments and insights. I have been very pleased with the response to this thread. This article is also in my journal. I shall return with new articles. ;)