Choosing to enrich your life by yourself is very different from being “lonely.” In Celebrating Time Alone, Lionel Fisher shares his personal reflections on solitude, brought into sharp focus by living alone for six years on a remote Pacific Northwest beach. He supplements his own reflections by interviewing men and women in sixteen states, in both rural and urban settings, who have stretched the envelope of their aloneness to Waldenesque proportions. All the material is intended to offer counsel, inspiration, affirmation, insights, encouragement, and advice on living well alone, to help learn to use solitude and periods of aloneness for self-discovery and personal growth—whether they choose aloneness or have it thrust on them.

What is the proper place of solitude in human existence? Some thinkers have claimed that solitude is our truest, most ultimate, metaphysically deepest state of being. Others have maintained the contrary view that it is in encounter that we most truly find ourselves. In Koch's Solitude: A Philosophical Encounter, both solitude and encounter emerge as primary modes of human experience, equally essential for human completion. This book both joyfully celebrates and carefully analyzes solitude. Professor Koch first explores the roles of perception, emotion, thought, and volition in constructing the experiential world of solitude, then distinguishes solitude from such near-relations as loneliness, isolation, privacy, and alienation. He goes on to explain his surprising discovery: disengaged solitude is threaded through and hemmed around by diminished modes of engagement, while conversely, engagement is limited and hollowed by modes of disengagement. So, it turns out, experiences of solitude and encounter are shot through with each other, leading to a radically new understanding of personal experience. The author identifies five intrinsic virtues of solitude: Freedom of Action; Attunement to Self; Attunement to Nature; Reflective Perspective; and Creativity. The common objections to solitude - that it is empty, pointless, vain, foolish, lonely, dangerous, unnatural, morbid, self-indulgent, selfish, escapist, evasive of social responsibility, irrelevant for post-modern women, and culturally limited to alienated privilege in late stages of capitalism - are each given their say and then critically dismantled. Professor Koch's discussion includes an overview of historical restrictions on solitudefor women, as well as contemporary women's writings on solitude, and a detailed study of the role of solitude in the classics of ancient Taoism.

In her novels, Isabel Colegate has often explored the psychology of the seeker, the person embarked upon a search for understanding, for grace, and for perfect possession of his soul. Now, in her first work of nonfiction, she turns her attention to the archetypal seeker, the "pioneer of the spirit" who hears the call to solitude and, through self-exile from humanity, discovers not only who he or she is but, paradoxically, how to live among others. The author comes to her material not as scholar, not as ahistorian, but as a writer who herself has felt the pull of solitude. Her book is a witty, idiosyncratic personal essay that draws upon the lives, examples, and ways of those hermits and solitaries she has come to know, either through their books, books about them, or visits to their places. Some are saints and heroes, others eccentrics and frauds, but all are unforgettable.In a series of essays, an acclaimed novelist delves deeply into the spiritual life, reflecting on ascetism in the works of Lao Tzu, the Desert Fathers, Wordsworth, Thoreau, and others.

If you have ever wondered about how hermits live, or if you are an active participant in the eremitical life, then it's time to make this ultimate resource guide part of your book collection. Written by the editors of Raven's Bread, an international quarterly newsletter that provides guidance on hermit life, Consider the Ravens is a seminal study on eremitism as it has developed since the 1950s. Learn about All aspects of the vocation, including spiritual, practical, and juridical Hazards of the hidden life Practical recommendations for beginners in eremitical life Extensive citations from desert fathers and mothers Exploration of eremitical spirituality. Essentially, you'll learn about the eremitic life straight from the hermits themselves, and it's never an easy task to get their opinions and advice! The voices of many of today's hermits can now be heard loud and clear for the first time. Find the answers to your questions about a vocation as old as spirituality itself and discover why eremitism is becoming more popular than ever in Consider the Ravens.

In the tradition of Karen Armstrong's A History of God and Kathleen Norris' Cloistered Walk comes a magisterial history of hermits--from the Greek cynics to the Desert Fathers to more modern seekers such as Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Merton, and the American poet Robert Lax.

Traces the history of hermits, from the Greek Cynics, to the Desert Fathers, to more modern seekers of solitude, including Thoreau, Thomas Merton, and American poet Robert Lax.

Examines the role of solitude in creativity mourning, and religious experience, discussses enforced solitude, and argues that solitude can foster postive behavior

Demonstrates how introverted people are misunderstood and undervalued in modern culture, charting the rise of extrovert ideology while sharing anecdotal examples of how to use introvert talents to adapt to various situations.

A celebration of the "loner" reassesses the cultural revulsion heaped on this type--a group with members as diverse as Rene Descartes, Emily Dickinson, and Greta Garbo--and re-evaluates their role in society. Original.