What I must do is all that concerns me, not what...

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

This Friday and Saturday I have a luxury I’ve wanted to take but haven’t given myself the permission to afford for years. I’m taking a couple days for a solitude retreat. To be still, disconnected, and perfectly silent.

I know myself, the first six to eight hours will be pure hell as my mind and ears will still be ringing from the undone, the urgent and digital noise I’m used to. My hope is not for some overwhelming spiritual experience, but to simply be still, not talk, try to not even think and let everything slow down into their proper places.

I don’t know if it will become cultural in my generation, or if my over-immersion into the digital world has created a “pendulum swing” reaction. But I’m not impressed with my life when it’s always on, always connected, and full of noise. I want my soul and heart back, and this is a small step to get them back.

*Emerson, Ralph Waldo (2009-05-10). Self Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson (Kindle Locations 84-87). Shamrock Eden Publication. Kindle Edition.