Empty Beaches and Solitude

Empty Beaches

When walking on an empty beach, thoughts turn inward and feet merge with wet sand and foamy shore. If alone, there is no one else to consider and no words that need to be spoken. A simple nod to anyone you might pass is enough to include them and yet remain in solitude. It is a time to ponder a new project or a difficulty, as walking with the sound of waves provides a nice opportunity for new perspectives. When I paint an empty seascape or landscape, it is to capture this place of solitude, recording it for myself so that I can step into it in future. When the original sells, my goal is to give the new owner a space to be in, too.

There are many articles and studies about the benefits of solitude. Sherrie Bourg Carter Psy.D. tells us that solitude allows us to reboot our brains, improve our concentration, enhance our relationships, help us to solve problems, and help us find our own voice. Who knew?

Here's what others have to say about solitude:

• I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. ~Henry David Thoreau
• How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself. ~Virginia Woolf
• A little while alone in your room will prove more valuable than anything else that could ever be given you. ~Rumi
• Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that’s where I renew my springs that never dry up. ~ Pearl S. Buck
• Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born. ~Nikola Tesla
• What a lovely surprise to finally discover how un-lonely being alone can be. ~Ellen Burstyn
• The best thinking has been done in solitude. ~Thomas A. Edison

Don't get me wrong, I love to be with people, too, but I need quiet time alone. How about you? I know that there are many lovely places for a person to enjoy nature, feel the earth beneath their feet, and grab some solitude. Please share your favorite places with me, I would love to hear how they give you what you need.

Thanks for reading my blog!
~Teresa