Yesterday I managed to see two of my sisters and one brother. I don't see enough of them really. At the current rate I would expect to see them a few dozen times before I peg-it. I'd like to see them many times more but the fact is we rarely meet. It's a good job we have other means of communication.
I have learned something about myself though which is at odds with wanting to see more of people. Although I'd hate not to have the freedom to visit whatever and whoever I like, I feel more comfortable in isolation. I think my life would be more fulfilled living a basic and simple life and lifestyle.
I find myself longing to chop wood in order to remain warm, growing things and being a part of a community small enough to know everyone on first-name terms.
I guess as we get older we tend to become more isolated anyway and the reality is that eventually I'll have a 50/50 chance of total isolation and hating every second of it. The strange thing is that I don't want to be alone all of the time. I just want to be alone when I want to be alone...about a 70/30 or 80/20 split. I love to blog, talk, share and interact.
I can see a time not far distant that I can have the best of both worlds.
Were you wildly extraverted in your youth?
ReplyDeleteI am definitely becoming more recluse and enjoying peace and quiet with age! If I had told my 20 year old self that I would one day write that - she would have laughed in my face!
I know what you mean. It's crazy that we're soon to be 'on show' and in a constant state of performance / enactment behind a counter, serving coffee and food. In the limelight, so to speak, because our true heartsong is that of solitude, gardens, the strong bonds of family, and home.
ReplyDeleteMadness!
I feel exactly the same as Molly. I never would have thought that I - the London social butterfly - would end up in a rural backwater without many external exciting things to do.
ReplyDeleteAnyway Ken - say you end up in a retirement home, you might be the token male amongst a crowd of women. My dad ended his days in a very nice place in Hampstead - 42 women and 2 men. Needless to say most of the time he stayed in his room
Hi Molly P
ReplyDeleteNo, I wasn't, but I was always the cheeky, stirring ring-leader who always courted trouble and the one who was always caught and punished...still am come to think of it. I need to go into hiding!
Hi Helen
I guess it's getting very close now. I can feel the excitement. Is there a date when I can mentally order a pie or two seeing as I've missed the testing period?
Hi FF
I'm longing for the day!
A retirement home is not an option. The day they try and put me in one of those will be the day I decide to wind-surf the English Channel. If there is the slightest chance I'd manage it and have to face the prospect of life with 42 women, I'll abandon the idea of the Channel and go for the Atlantic instead.
“I feel more comfortable in isolation. I think my life would be more fulfilled living a basic and simple life and lifestyle.” Really interesting Ken – we all have our own concept of “space” and connection with the world. Sometime back, I read and accepted the fact that one can, at times, feel pretty isolated in a crowded environment too. Am also given to understand that we men, in particular, need cultivate a connection with the garden – it has all the elements – birth, growth and then gradual weathering!
ReplyDeleteHi Raj
ReplyDeleteNow I know why I like being in the garden so much. I think you are right.