Hey there, welcome to Wednesday and to Radio Headspace.
It's, you guessed it, Dora.
In yesterday's episode, I shared about being in a season of loneliness.
And today, I wanted to explore what it means to be alone.
Now, feeling lonely and being alone are two different experiences.
I think we've all had that urge or desire when we just need time to be with ourselves.
It feels much different than when we experience loneliness and that overwhelming feeling of isolation and disconnection.
Loneliness creates this illusion of separation, whereas aloneness reminds us we're always connected
and we have the choice to disconnect once in a while, to recharge.
From what I've learned, being alone can be a time of great insight, a time of deep reflection and even inspiration.
On my quest to understand what fruits aloneness can bear, I came across a book by author and priest Henry Nowen.
His book, Out of Solitude, speaks about the meaning we can find in being alone and how an intentional,
lonely place can be a birthplace of intimacy with ourselves.
And this had me thinking about what solitude can teach us.
It can teach us how to care, how to be in community, and most importantly, how to be who we are.
Case in point, the other day, I was walking to go get a coffee.
As I was stopped at the intersection waiting to cross the street,
a woman in a bright pink shirt started talking to me.
First, she was talking about her coffee order and how she always gets the same thing.
And then she started talking about learning to love being alone.