I was reading a blog post that mentioned having a ‘week of silence’ from Twitter and not posting. That led me to think about the peculiar communicative style on the site. Seems to me that most people are talking into the wind, although we all know about its use as a networking and marketing tool. You simply can’t replicate solid communication in a 140 character soundbite.
The blog also suggested that solitude and time spent with one’s imagination was infinitely more rewarding than constantly being ‘hooked up’ to social networking sites where people don’t much interact. Or for that matter, socializing of any kind much of the time, will diminish a creative output.
This led me to my old copy of Anthony Storr’s ‘Solitude, a Return to the Self’. He predominately features artists, musicians, writers, but the gist is that the average person would probably be as creative if they spent more time alone. Â Storr himself had a piano lesson on the day he died, almost 81.
Two of my dearest artist friends routinely spend time apart from each other, playing music and creating art in their respective studios. I’m convinced that this is one of the secrets to their long and successful marriage.
Storr became a psychotherapist and an authority on Carl Jung. He also practiced the art of calm and compassionate listening to his patients as a means of healing. In ‘Solitude’ he cites other authors (Whitman, CS Lewis, Wordsworth and Bernard Berenson) leaving accounts of themselves as children forming almost mystical unions with nature, those solitary moments the genesis of creative imagination. Â The opportunity for time spent alone and solitude as aspects of child development is an important discussion for research that has been mostly ignored.
From the Independent’s obit:
In ‘The Dynamics of Creation’, Storr argued that mankind did not come to dominate the living world through aggression alone but through the ability to think abstractly and to use symbols. This ability is expressed in art and in music, and it is manifested internally as imagination and fantasy. It is, he argued, the basis of human creativity and inventiveness, and it is these attributes which are the basis for our species’ success. He went on to consider how experiences in childhood may affect the development of fantasy and contribute to creativity.
So….daydreaming in class was the right thing to do.
Random House’s description of ‘Solitude, a Return to the Self’;
‘Solitude’Â was seminal in challenging the established belief that “interpersonal relationships of an intimate kind are the chief, if not the only, source of human happiness.” Indeed, most self-help literature still places relationships at the center of human existence. Lucid and lyrical, Storr’s book cites numerous examples of brilliant scholars and artists — from Beethoven and Kant to Anne Sexton and Beatrix Potter — to demonstrate that solitude ranks alongside relationships in its impact on an individual’s well-being and productivity, as well as on society’s progress and health. But solitary activity is essential not only for geniuses, says Storr; the average person, too, is enriched by spending time alone.
From the 2001 NYTimes obit:Â
A recurring theme in his writing is his skepticism over the notion that interpersonal relations are the sine qua non of mental health. In ”Solitude: A Return to Self” (Free Press, 1988) and other works, he proposed that being alone can be beneficial to both achievement and personal growth. ”If we did not look to marriage as the principal source of happiness, fewer marriages would end in tears,” he wrote.
and with that, I’m off to paint.