The Power of Loneliness

In the late summer of 2015, I had decided to spend the major time of my free days completely away from the world. Alone deep in the forests of France.

Being alone for a couple of days is nothing new for me. Yet I had never before been as isolated: myself as the only inhabitant of this lonely wood for 7 days.

Although I thought I’d prepared quite well, life got in the way: my luggage never reached the airport, leaving me with my notepad for doodling, one book to read, and little else. The conditions would be more rugged than I had imagined. It ended up being an appropriate beginning.

Being on your own evokes a thousand sensations, feelings, and thoughts. These are just a few of my own.

There is a passage in the bible that reminds one to cut off “foreign branches” which bear no fruit and only leave ”the true vine:” the one branch that is vital for living. While there are many ways to interpret this advice, it is evident that we grow attached to things that once may have seemed promising but end up leaving us empty. Identifying the matters with relevance to life and soul is, perhaps, our only real purpose.

The main reason for cutting myself off from civilisation was to breathe new air, to invite the chatter of the forest and not the noise of the everyday. To fill my soul with few words that matter, instead of thousands of words of varying importance. While my spirit and soul is nourished by doing what I love, in these precious solitary moments I find myself able to identify the branches that need to be removed. Things I have grown attached to that do not define me and my soul. It is not about despising these things, nor entirely casting them out of my life – much of life’s joy comes from inessential things. Property like fancy clothes, a big bed, dozens of books I surround myself with make me feel happy, certainly. But I can bear fruit without them. Were they to be cut off, I would mourn them for a short time. But with the next season, I’d be strong again. The self is the true vine, the consciousness to which everything else is attached.

That self doesn’t need things and doesn’t grow old, only more experienced. In finding that truth again, touching the spirit of my self even for a brief moment, I feel unbeatable. I feel like a spirit in a well working vessel which has everything it needs to accomplish what it wants to do.

---

Please read the rest of this blog on Alexei Orlov's website here.