Fertile solitude

We flee solitude as if it were dangerous. Music in our ears, a podcast in the background, the phone within reach. The discomfort of being alone with oneself has become unbearable for many.

But it's in solitude that presence truly becomes possible.

A University of Virginia study showed that participants preferred to give themselves small electric shocks rather than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. That's how far the escape goes.

Blaise Pascal saw it coming: "All of humanity's problems stem from one single thing, which is the inability to sit quietly in a room alone."

Solitude isn't the loneliness you feel in an empty room. It's the inner space you inhabit. The more you flee it, the more it shrinks.

This weekend: Take 30 minutes with no stimulation. No music, no phone, no book. Just you. Notice what surfaces.