You must be very strong to love solitude.
(Pier Paolo Pasolini)
Starting on the first of November 2008, I began investigating the state of being alone. Confinement, putting myself into this manner of living and being, resulted in either painful loneliness or meaningful solitude.
Externally solitude and loneliness bare many similarities; both are perceived to be, based on solitariness, one and the same. All resemblance ends with the aesthetic, purely a veil that obscures the true reality of their differences.
My state of being alone discovered the innate differences.
Loneliness is a negative condition, tainted or marked by a sense of isolation. It can be a burden, an oppressive weight, that people feel even when surrounded by others but a feeling of lack or absence remains. A part is always missing.
Solitude can be represented as the opposite to loneliness: it can be beneficial from the act of being alone. Whereas loneliness can be detrimental, solitude, presents an opportunity to create self-awareness or a reflection on one's way of being or life. It doesn't present the dichotomy of the self that loneliness creates.
Solitude isn't imposed; solitude is an active choice, you choose it.
The journey from loneliness to solitude has been an omnipresent notion in my mind.
It posed as a complex process, defining the difference between the two, and moving from the void of loneliness into the realm of solitude.
I still needed the support from someone who was experienced in the body of solitude, for myself, to conquer and finally understand the enrichment of solitude.
more here
burdening | ongoing
burdening | appendix
burdening | self portrait experience