Solitude, A Different Concept From Loneliness

Historically, responding to our nature as social animals, we have sought companionship. At first, it seems that this interest in the other had a rather emotional motivation: to provide warmth in the support system.

This interest changed; Thus, concepts were born that refer to exchange relations – quid pro quo – with a more materialistic or instrumental basis. In opposition, there is the concept of solitude . A state of loneliness in which the other is not required and also allows us to develop at different levels.

At present, the concept of liquid society refers to the fluid and changing state of society, in which uncertainty, due to the dizzying speed of change, has weakened human bonds. In this context, the company with a materialistic purpose is predominant and loneliness would be an unwanted circumstance: an evil to be eradicated.

The difference between solitude and solitude

In contrast to materialistic company or liquid love, there are two types of loneliness states in the Anglo-Saxon language: that which we know with negative characteristics and those that have positive characteristics, solitude.

The main difference between loneliness and solitude is that this is a sought solitude, we can have moments of relaxation, distraction or insight . In short, with positive consequences. It is not bad to want to be alone when we need it most.

Despite the negative connotations that loneliness may have, it is necessary. In today’s frenetic pace of life, it is not strange that many people decide to spend time in this kind of positive solitude or solitude.

Loneliness is necessary and therapeutic in many cases, such as burnout syndrome . Obvious to say that a person subjected to chronic stress, seek solitude and enjoy it. However, this search for solitude does not define what solitude is either .

Incorporate moments of loneliness in our day to day

In addition, this concept is characterized by the fact that people enjoy incorporating moments of solitude into their day-to-day life. Sometimes being accompanied at all times is not positive for development. The human being has the need and the right to be able to be alone, with the positive consequences of it.

The author Virginia Thomas, expresses  Solitude in a Social World , -S olitude in a social world -, that due to different factors, most people have lost their ability to dedicate themselves to themselves and meet their needs, without falling into anxiety. . Perhaps, for this reason, solitude is now more necessary.

Lack of time or being constantly in company could be factors that limit the natural manifestation of solitude . Looking for it or creating a space to enjoy solitude improves our emotional system, allows us a space for reflection and to generate ideas or thoughts that we would not otherwise have.

Solitude promotes contemplation

Solitude fosters a contemplative situation and therefore can be related to the contemplative state of mindfulnes. Contemplation consists of seeing things as they are, being present and with focused attention. Something that can be difficult when we work under high attentional demand and a tendency to multitask. Even in our spare time, we are with the TV, the tablet and the phone screen projecting stimuli at the same time.

In 2018, Nguyen, Ryan and Deci showed that solitude has the ability to balance our states of high and low arousal; In other words, whether the emotion is negative or positive, loneliness helps us calm down and regulate ourselves.

Precisely one of the objectives of the practice of mindfulness or mindfulness is to lower that level of excitement and get us out of a mental return with no apparent end on what worries us. Mindfulness is not only a relaxation technique, but also to take a more relaxed attitude to life. The solitude promotes the stage for your exercise.

One of the main benefits of loneliness is that derived from the absence of intrinsic limitations to the presence of the other. In a way, the person when alone is also at liberty. One of the benefits that solitude can bring is creativity, since it seems to find a better fertilized field when there is more freedom.

A study carried out in 1994 by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi showed that adolescents who are less used to living with loneliness also show less creativity. As Virginia Thomas puts it, solitude is the art and science of solitude. – The art and science of being alone-. If it is an art or a science, the saying of being alone better than in bad company makes more sense when we refer to the concept of solitude .