Frank M. Wanderer – The Mystery of Solitude is one of the greatest mysteries in our life. As human beings, we are social creatures and, without others around us from birth, we would not even be able to stay alive in this world. Social space plays a crucial role in the development of our personality, as the direction of our development is determined by the expectations of other people and our desire to meet those expectations. That is how we become a part of a collective, social space called society, and society receives its special nature from the culture it represents.The book of our personal history is written in this social space, and our identity is built upon the foundation of our personal history. We are surrounded by other people, and their expectations and requirements are present in our mind when we are alone. Most people do not understand the difference between solitude and being lonely. Being alone is at the same time loneliness for us. The two words, however, mean two different situations. Solitude is the state of the mind, whereas being alone is the state of the Consciousness.

In the isolated state of consciousness of Ego-dominated mind we do not like to be alone, when we are alone, we think we are lonely, we find it difficult to tolerate, we try to avoid it. How we do it, depends on our temper and personal attitudes.

Extroverted people focus primarily on social life. When we are alone, we seek friends, go to parties, because we like to share our pleasures and sorrows with others. Continue reading →