There's something special about wintertime and solitude. There's something about being self-enclosed in your happy place watching it rain or snow outside while you wrap up in your pajamas, make a warm drink of your choice, maybe play some nice lo-fi music or even just listen to the rain drops falling on the ground outside and really get into a drawing or painting. Where time and space dissolve and even the seer disappears into the painting. This really is a beautiful time to create something you love, or to just be. I feel inspired to write down my thoughts and feelings in moments like these because it’s where I’m most at peace and combined with verbal silence you can really experience some profound moments of bliss and inner peace, for me anyway.
A couple of weeks ago on my day off I noticed it was raining heavily outside so I decided to have a drawing day (nothing unusual for my day off lol). I decided a lazy day was in order so I boiled the kettle for some nice turmeric green tea, I put the heating on full blast, stayed in my pj’s and bought my quilt into the front room where I could submerge myself under the quilt and just listen to the rain fall outside. I turn my phone off and all internet devices off and also switched the character off also. This picture that I’m creating in your mind right now probably looks funny lol but I promise it wasn’t that funny (maybe just my morning hair) Anyway, a few moments pass and I was so cosy and warm I just felt so inspired naturally just from unplugging and listening to the rain.
So two hours pass by and I get a little peckish so I roll myself out from myself made quilt castle and gently walk to the kitchen where I made some little snacks (lol). Every two or so hours I usually have a ten minute break where I focus my eyes on something else around me which distracts me from the drawing so when I revisit it, its easier to spot error’s. I don’t set timers, I just naturally seem to have a break then. By this time there was a little thunder I could hear in the distance, so with a Jacobs cracker in my hand I walk over to one of my windows to look outside, and there’s a small cat perched on the window sill who didn’t even move or flinch or run when I approached the window. It was just me and him and it was like we both were needing a day off lol. I opened the window carefully to offer him a warm retreat from the wind and into the warmth but he was too comfortable to move. He wasn’t wet because he was under a little roof from my window. So naturally I offered the little cat some of my lunch and of course he took it. Cats love to eat. I’m not a big cat person myself I much prefer dogs, I feel like dogs have more character to them than cats. But that’s just me. So I gave him some lunch, left the heating on full and left the window slightly open so he can come in if he wants to. I went back to my drawing (yes with Jacobs crackers) and some how got myself back into my quilt castle and got lost in my drawing again. No internet, no music, no distractions, just rain and thunder. The little cat never came in but after a few more hours pass by I went to take a peak at the window and he was still there resting, completely unbothered by the weather and the world.
It occurred to me that just like we enjoy solitude? All natures animals do too. Its natural, of course some enjoy it more than others. The little cat of course may have just been tired and wanted to sleep? But he also could of wanted to do what I wanted to do and listen to the rain in silence and solitude? Of course we will never know and it doesn’t really matter, the point is silence and solitude are (I think) more and more important today than ever before. This world we live in nowadays is about as far from “natural” as you can get. Well where I live anyway. A very good friend of mine once called his days off as “being human again” and that really stayed with me. And its true. Thanks for that Luke.
Like many of us, I’m at a point in my life where I just want to keep quiet and be at peace. People have known me as being a very loud extroverted person in the past but it looks like the tables have turned, like they always do in life. Things change and you evolve as a person as you get older. I guess I’ve just arrived at a place of maturity where I just want to focus on my work and be at peace with the divine and my surroundings. I’m lucky enough to have hardly any responsibilities like children so its easier for me to give one thing my full undivided attention. I say lucky but I designed it this way.
Inner silence makes you more reflective in general hence writing this blog post and outward silence (no music + no verbal communication) helps make you calm, relaxed and at peace, and the combination of both is something just beautiful to me. Mixed with drawing, painting and doing what you love its like you’re floating in an ocean of love. Everything you eat when you’re in this state you take longer to taste it, you really search for the taste of that sip of tea to really take it in, every line you draw comes out perfect and the flow state is just pouring out of you. Everything you draw your happy with, everything you eat seems to taste so much richer and you have so much gratitude towards things you usually wouldn’t take a second look at. Natural sounds become like music and you start to really listen to natures rain drops making there own song as they hit the floor or window. Natures sounds don’t distract us unlike man-made music (not all of course). Most of us (not all) use music to escape and to distract ourselves from our thoughts and feelings but natures music helps bring us back into solitude mode and gently focus from a place of self-love and self-rescue. It grounds us and humbles us and brings us back to the breath and back into the body instead of running away from what is and what needs our attention.
The little cat stayed on the windowsill for most of the afternoon, mainly sleeping and checking to see if I was still awake. I haven’t seen him since; I wonder where life has taken him? I hope he comes back on my next day off. Now that would be interesting, wouldn’t it? We will have to wait and see.
The greatest artist of the 21st century Pablo Picasso once said…
“Without great solitude, no serious work can be done”
And I’ve never forgotten this truth. Many of you may know I was obsessed with Pablo Picasso from an early age and still to this day find myself with endless inspiration from him (Picasso the artist, not the person). Without great solitude, no serious work can be done, oh wise man. In 1907 Mr Picasso locked himself away for 9 months to concentrate on a painting that would turn out to be one of the most iconic pieces of art in art history, a piece that shocked the entire art world and laid the foundation of what we call modern art today.
“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”
Many artists and creative know about the power of solitude, I’m just sharing my take on it with added silence. There's something so beautiful about silence and solitude that I can’t help but make it sound as a sort of love story. But that’s what it is, solitude can be like falling back in love with yourself. It can mean taking care of yourself? Focusing on a project? Catching up on sleep and your favorite shows or movies? For me a few years back I would go into seclusion so I could water fast. Solitude can also be good time to catch up on reading and lose yourself in a good book or learning something new. Now doesn’t that sound cosy and comforting? If it does its probably because you haven’t done it in a while. Even while I’m writing this on laptop I can feel myself getting into that vibe just from typing about it. It really is a special place. But I’ve discovered a way one can remain in that state all the time even while outside amongst chaos. It all starts with silence and solitude. The more you practice silence and solitude the easier it is to remain in that state for as long as possible. Silence and solitude doesn’t mean slow and lazy, it means slowing down a little so you can focus on the things that matter most to you. Being aware of oneself and our surroundings, our thought patterns and remaining a witness to whatever is happening around us without getting in your own way. Just observing the moment for what it is, just as it is and nothing more.
So many of us these days (myself included) sometimes feel like we don’t even have time to take an entire day off just to read a new book? This scares some of us (me to sometimes) because we feel like if we spend an entire day reading we aren’t being useful or productive. You are more than someone who just makes money. What if we can’t pay the bills and what if this and what if that and we think ourselves into a corner until the only way out is to think that to work more work more and work more is the answer to our problems. And I myself still have days like this, we all do. But it’s not healthy, period. Its not healthy to think about making money all the time. Its just not. Even the richest men and women in the world still schedule time in their diary where they go into self-seclusion to unwind. Some do it to plan their next moves? Some go into a retreat setting to heal? Some even go just to sunbathe and hit the spa. Regardless of what you choose to do in your solitude, its natural and its healthy and you will be surprised at how good you feel after.
I feel inspired just from writing this blog post about it. Or maybe I’m getting old lol. Now I know why old people are so protective over there solitude. It really is a sacred time. A sacred silence.
Anyway, that’s my little story for tonight. Its 9:38 pm, Saturday 10th February 2024. I will most likely be writing more little stories like this about things I’m experiencing and realizing. I hope you get something out them. The main message in this post is to take time out for you, you can’t live the same day every day and call it a life. Take time to listen to your calling, and answer that call. It doesn’t stop ringing you. So take some time in solitude and reconnect with the self and fall back in love with life again. You won’t regret it.
I hope you’ll join me again soon
Eli xxx
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