The Power of Solitude

The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude  – Aldous Huxley

There is a certain power in solitude. Solitude is useful for a variety of reasons. In this case, the reason for solitude I want to elaborate on is it’s power to reboot your mind, embrace your edge and center yourself in your purpose.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: In today’s society, we live in an age of infobesity. We are constantly being bombarded with information. This information is rarely useful or empowering. 99.9% of most information is used for one thing: Distraction.

Further, your brain is plastic. Whether you like it or not, your brain absorbs information every day which piles up in your brain and starts to rewire/condition you into all types of unwanted behaviors/mindsets. Some of these mindsets and behaviors include instant gratification, hypersexualization, victim-mentality, feminism, weak-mentalities, mediocrity, negativity, etc…

This is where the power of solitude comes in. Solitude is powerful in many ways; 1) it serves as a reboot for your consciousness 2)Solitude makes you face your edge and 3) Solitude provides a way to reground yourself in your purpose with more intensity and depth.

The way solitude reboots your consciousness is because it stops the flow of information into your mind. Now that the in-flow of information has stopped, your brain will stop being absorbed in useless data. You will start to become more present to the moment. You will also have more focus available.

Next, solitude will make you face your edge. Why? Distractions are no longer there to numb you from yourself. Issues buried deep in your subconscious will start to become more apparent as your awareness shifts from being focused on the Kardashians to being focusing on you..alone…with no stimulation. You will feel tension. You will want comfort to distract you again. This tension is what I often refer to as your edge.

Finally, solitude will reground you in your purpose. Once the inflow of information has stopped and you are in touch with that feeling of discomfort; your edge, you can start to deepen your connection to your purpose.

At this point, it would be wise to start asking yourself questions. Why do I feel uncomfortable? Why am I bored?  Where am I going with all of this? What am I doing with my life and if I keep doing that, where will it take me? How do I feel about my life in general?

Notably, solitude can take on many forms: if you are extremely busy,  solitude might simply be 30 mins to 1 hour of meditation or alone time every day with no stimulation. If you have a bit more time (which most of us do) you can take an evening, an entire day or week, or more…

When in solitude, it’s important to be quiet, with no stimulation, no reading, no nothing. It must be you alone with yourself.

For longer periods of solitude (or if you don’t have any good places to do it), you can visit local hermitages in your area that are usually pretty cheap. They cost about $30 per day and you can just be there. They are like log cabins in the woods. Just sit, contemplate, meditate, and reground yourself in who you are as a man.

I find myself seeking solitude every day through meditation and alone time. Some need it more than others depending on their current life situation. Usually once every 2 or 3 weeks, I’ll spend an evening alone, breathing and contemplating.

Last week, I spent an entire day in solitude. I felt uncomfortable and I felt the need to distract myself. I kept thinking about food and other sources of instant gratification. I realized that my mind was just seeking pleasure in order to distract itself from the truth: I wasn’t grounded in my purpose enough. I wasn’t motivated. So, I spent some time going through all of the reasons “why” I get up in the morning. Once, I became in touch with those reasons, I felt the fire in me re-ignite.

Lastly, every man needs some solitude. It’s too easy to be numb with all types of pleasures and sources of distraction and think that we’re doing just fine. Ignorance might seem like bliss but it’s really just mediocrity. Every man should immerse himself in some form of solitude. Further, every man should alternate between short periods and long periods of solitude to strengthen his feeling of purpose as-well-as to merge with his edge. This is a practice that has been done for thousands of years and isn’t spoken of much in today’s society. Yet, it still holds immense power.

Take Spartan Ownership,

Maximillian Giamarco

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