February 21, 2014, by Eve
The Importance of Being Lonely
As a modern student our lives are excessively busy. Yesterday I had a tutor meeting about an essay concerning Victorian melodrama; a seminar about how Oscar Wilde thinks murder is ok if you’re an artist; a meeting about Edinburgh Proposals at the Nottingham New Theatre; a recording for the radio play I’m in (Society Rules); a trip to the library; a rush back home in the rain; watched a couple of Gilmore Girls episodes; and made some fancy hot dogs. It’s not just appointments which make our lives busy it’s the constant conversational noise of social media and the radio and the tv (or laptop). We’re always on the go – being friendly or arranging to be friendly later. Even writing this blog I’m rushing – making constant, trailing lists in my head and trying to complete half the tasks at the same time. (You can see how I’ve forgotten to add in a paragraph break so far – I’m writing so fast).
As much as I love being busy – having things to do – this blog is about concerning the pure goodness in taking a break and, significantly, having a bit of alone time. This does not specifically mean lonely time – but sometimes loneliness can be a good thing (in small doses).
Modern life is so consistently loud – the invention of the ipod/the mobile means we are never out of reach of sound (whether the sound from conversational chatter or consistent music). Sometimes it’s hard to hear your own thoughts within the constant sound mush pressing in on us. And hearing your own thoughts is pretty much essential to keeping calm and sane.
Therefore, I put forwards the theory that loneliness, quiet time, is as important to modern life as being in the technological and social rush. Taking an hour out of work just to sit and read a book – it doesn’t have to be a course book – or going to a quiet café and just watching the world go by can put you (or me, at least) into a calming, relaxed frame of mind. It’s like a deep sigh before entering the escalator of life once more. You get time to order out your head – have a quick mental spring clean, if you like!
And so – I rest my case and advice everyone to factor in maybe 30 minutes a day to rest their cases too; put everything aside and have a rest from it all.
Pause and relax… Ah…
Right. Blog done! Time for the next task of the day!
Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing
Great book, would recommend ^^