The Art of Being Alone

Does anyone remember the childhood fantasy of being alone in the woods or on a quiet beach? Even though we were only a short distance from home there was still the sense that we were explorers, pioneers in a new land. With it came the feeling that we were looking at even familiar scenes through different eyes – adventuresome eyes. Walking through natural surroundings without the distractions of friends and phones can open our senses to what an old biology professor expressed as what we’ve looked at before but haven’t seen.

As adults, we’ve probably abandoned the pioneer fantasy, but that doesn’t mean we have to relinquish our sense of curiosity and exploration. To reach that sense means first again enjoying being alone – with our own thoughts – emphasis on alone. Sometimes then all it takes is looking up into the trees, into the sky, or down at the trail, or into the brush or rocks. Even on a well-travelled trail nature throws things at us that we hadn’t expected or noticed before: a red-tailed hawk soaring overhead, a harmless hog-nosed snake rattling in the fallen leaves at our feet, a crab scuttling into a sandy burrow on the beach, a mushroom popped on the forest up that wasn’t above ground yesterday.

If we don’t look we won’t see. If we’re texting, roving the mall instead of the park, and concerned about what our friends are doing every moment, when we look up all we’ll see is the second level of the same shops in the next mall. The real shame is that the peace of the hawks, snakes, crabs, and mushrooms is lost to us in the process.