Solitude and Dr. Seuss

This week Joe’s Journey looks at solitude and its impact on creativity, and on Thursday’s Ideasnmoreblog a birthday tribute to a very special creative sort, Dr. Seuss.

Solitude, as has been noted previously, is both a good and not-so-good thing to experience. I’ve had it both ways. I live alone so it’s quiet most days and my mind takes me all over. Solitude produces sadness and puts a smile on my face, just not at the same time.

Memories abound amidst realities I’d soon not face. But from those memories arise certain vignettes which sometimes serve as the creative spark for my next fiction story and/or blog post. The creative juices will flow but at times the flow is more like a drip.

Below is a sampling of different scenarios from various folks who experience solitude and have turned it into a positive development in their creativity.

Musician Ani DiFranco produced her album, “Educated Guess,” entirely on her own. An interviewer asked, “Your approach, your energy on the current tour and on the new album seem different. Why is that?”

DiFranco:“The difference is solitude. I have it in my life now, and I didn’t for years, at all… now I’m alone on stage, it’s been like a year and a half, and I’m alone in my dressing room and I’m alone in my home. And there’s just a lot less people around. So it allows for more contemplation.”

Writer Erica Jong thinks“Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to nurture it in solitude and to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.”

“Painter Gwen John, poet Stevie Smith, philosopher Simone Weil, writers Isak Dinesen, Rebecca West and Katherine Mansfield are among women who used aloneness as a lab.”

[From review by Laurie Stone of the book Alone! Alone!: Lives of Some Outsider Women, by Rosemary Dinnage]

In her Psychology Today article Field Guide to the Loner: The Real Insiders, Elizabeth Svoboda writes about Miina Matsuoka who“lives by herself in New York City. She owns two cats and routinely screens her calls. But before you jump to conclusions, note that she is comfortable hobnobbing in any of five languages for her job as business manager at an international lighting-design firm.

“She just strongly prefers not to socialize, opting instead for long baths, DVDs, and immersion in her art projects. She does have good, close friends, and goes dancing about once a month, but afterward feels a strong need to ‘hide and recoup.’

“In our society, where extroverts make up three-quarters of the population, loners (except Henry David Thoreau) are pegged as creepy or pathetic. But soloists like Matsuoka can function just fine in the world – they simply prefer traveling through their own interior universe.”

The author adds, “Contrary to popular belief, not all loners have a pathological fear of social contact. ‘Some people simply have a low need for affiliation,’ says Jonathan Cheek, a psychologist at Wellesley College. ‘There’s a big subdivision between the loner-by-preference and the enforced loner.’

“Those who choose the living room over the ballroom may have inherited their temperament, Cheek says. Or a penchant for solitude could reflect a mix of innate tendencies and experiences such as not having many friends as a child or growing up in a family that values privacy.”

Solitude may relate to social anxiety or high sensitivity for some people, which can result in emotional overwhelm in many social situations.

But many innovators and creators choose solitude – as persons “who can to a higher degree than average accept the condition of aloneness,” says psychologist Nathaniel Branden.

“They are more willing to follow their own vision, even when it takes them far from the mainland of the human community.”

In her article Psychological Factors in the Development of Adulthood Giftedness from Childhood Talent, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, PhD talks about solitude in early life:

“Many eminent individuals reported experiencing social isolation and loneliness as children. Many came from homes where there was ample opportunity for time alone for a variety of reasons and circumstances.

“Some were deliberately kept from having friends by their parents who feared the friend’s negative influences. Some creative producers sought solitary time as children to escape family tensions and stressful circumstances.

“Solitary time in childhood also supported the development of a rich internal fantasy life, one that could aid creative thought.” As an only child, I was playing alone a lot of the time. It was me and my imagination, my best friend. Complementing this environment was a group of stuffed animals who became my extended family.

Oh, I had friends in the neighborhood but when they weren’t available, my “stuffed family” was instantly at the ready. My aloneness was one of my comfort zones and probably served up my creativity at this early age without me realizing it.

During present day, I try and use my morning “coffee time” as my solitary think time, when I just let my mind take me to wherever it wants or needs to go.  Sometimes I’m thinking about my next blog post or what to do/not do about a certain incident or experience. Other times, I try to free my mind of all thought and simply relax and let my subconscious do its thing.

As was said earlier, solitude can be both a good and not-so-good thing. Acknowledge both instances and let it serve you well.

 

Thanks in part to Douglas Eby and Talent Development for contributing to this blog post. Douglas Eby (M.A./Psychology) is author of the Talent Development Resources series of sites including High Ability; Highly Sensitive and Creative; The Creative Mind and others – which provide “Information and inspiration to enhance creativity and personal development.”

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Ideasnmoreblog, for a different kind of playground for creativity, innovation and inspiring stuff.