How To be Solitary

Why it’s important.

Give yourself the gift of alone.

The loneliness of the long-distance runner.

I run through cities.

Across parks, down lanes, along rivers, past government buildings, past people sitting on benches.

I run.

No music.

I want to feel my body.

I want to let my thoughts go.

You must unlearn the habit of being someone else or nothing at all, of imitating the voices of others and mistaking the faces of others for your own. Herman Hesse.

We are trained to be somebody else.

We are conditioned to hide our true selves.

In our culture of aspiration, we need. A car. A house. And we use those things to form an identity.

But the one thing we often lose along the way is who we really are.

I come to a steep flight of steps. When were they laid? They have elaborate railings, made by artisans who have gone from the world. Nobody has those skills anymore.

I run up the steps.