The Bliss of Solitude

“For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon the inner eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”


In this way, William Wordsworth concluded what is probably his best known poem. Recalling those lines sets me to thinking about solitude and its attractions, particularly to artistic people and religious thinkers.

What can possibly be blissful about being alone? Many people today seem to fear being alone almost more than anything else. Is this not reflected by the almost constant need many young people find for loud music, by the abhorrence shown by couples at the prospect of one of them being left alone on the death or disappearance of the other, or the fear demonstrated by so many at the prospect of a “lonely old age”?

All such fears are understandable for Man is a gregarious creature and being deprived of social contact for lengthy periods can have unfortunate psychological and physical effects on most people. It is not by chance that ‘solitary confinement’ is one of the most feared punishments in prison. Why should it be that solitude, feared by so many, is at the same time prized as a pearl of great price by the great artists, thinkers and philosophers of the world? Could it be that solitude and loneliness are not synonymous? Is being alone different from being lonely?

Have you never taken a walk in the country on a fresh, spring day and felt the inexplicable joy that steals over you and eventually fills you with such ecstasy that you feel you want to shout out loud and tell all the world how wonderful you feel? Is this feeling not more intense when you are alone? This is the bliss of solitude. Have you never sat quietly at home and allowed your mind to wander hither and thither and suddenly found yourself reliving the joy and happiness of an event in your childhood? This is the bliss of solitude. We can each recall instances similar to those I am sure and so accept that bliss can be discovered in solitude but why should this be so?

As well as being a social creature, Man is also a spirit. It is essential for our health and well-being that our physical and spiritual natures are in harmony with one another. To achieve this, time and effort have to be devoted to feeding and exercising both. Essential elements in satisfying our physical nature are the love and companionship of other human beings. Indeed these are also helpful to our spiritual side also. By its very nature however, the spirit needs to turn away from more physical, earthly things from time to time in order to seek sustenance: to recharge its batteries, you might say. This is not to suggest that un-worldliness is a desirable aim. On the contrary, as spiritual beings each of us chooses to dwell on earth just because meeting and overcoming the trials and temptations of this life provide unique opportunities to refine our spiritual nature. Nevertheless, periodically we are well advised to expose our spirit selves to a more rarefied atmosphere. To do this, we need to be alone – not lonely. Indeed loneliness, which is a state of mind we impose upon ourselves, is a barrier to true solitude.

The power of the spirit is within everything we see around us and the spirits of our departed loved ones both human and animal are only a whisper away. In solitude, the spirit within each one of us is enabled to reach out, to touch and to respond to this power which is the very essence of life. So complex is our makeup that the intensity of our response is bound to vary but when that real “we,” deep within us, truly touches the great source of all life – the light of the world – then do we experience in full, the bliss of solitude.