Solitude is meant for relaxation and restoration.
A time to reflect on the floods of information, conversations and interactions with the world that flow through your head like a river.
It is a time to say, "Ooo, maybe I should have reacted differently here," or "Hmm, I really could have been more patient and humble there."
Time away from the constant advertisements, either intentional or unintentional, of how the human life is lived to solidify who and how how we want to be in our lifetime.
For instance, not five minutes ago I made my way upstairs and as I passed into my room, I turned on a lamp while simultaneously gazing out the window to my left. The night sky, painted navy as tonight's base color, was layered by crumbles and smears of ordinary clouds scattered across the night's canvas, leftovers from the day's work. The moon set itself in the center of the clouds like a glittering jewel, a centerpiece casting light and illuminating the cloud pieces, turning them into jewels as well. Whatever the moon's light touched, glowed an ethereal radiance. But from turning on the lamp, the inside light reflecting on the window made it hard to see the moon and it's surrounding jewels as well. I soon got irritated and turned off my lamp so I could marvel at our night sky.
I got two things out of this:
1) God needs to be the center of our life, because He is the jewel that gives life to our darkness and pulls us all together. Like the clouds without the moon, we are dark and gloomy without Jesus. He illuminates our souls from the inside out, turning our darkness into lovely light, into jewels that glitter and radiate for all the world to see!
2) Distractions and other means of gaining enLIGHTenment only draw away from God's pure loveliness, power and majesty. The more we rely on things other than God, the further away he feels, and then we get mad at HIM for being so far away. We need to turn off our lamps and look out the window, turning our focus back on God. He is all we ever need, and no matter how AWESOME the next big thing is... He is all we'll ever WANT. It doesn't get any better than God. He illuminates your inner being so you shine on the outside too-- confident, radiant, handsome, wise, enriched and humble.
Which is why my current favourite song is: Everything by Lifehouse.
Solitude, however, is not a hobby. Nor should it be.
Being the last bird to fly the coop, I need to other birds to fly with!
Which is why today was a good day! Ya know why???
'Cause I got to hang out TIANNA and TEENA today, that's why!
We encountered major success in thrift store shopping, and scouted out the PERFECT Bennet's Abode.
Hope all goes well when we ask the owner to use his home. Luckily for us, the real estate agent's mom is my next door neighbor and the house owner lives two doors down in another house.
Today, to say the very least, was a good day.
