Solitude
On the opposite end of the spectrum from my last post, Douglas Welch links and comments on a Steve Olson post about eating lunch alone as a way to find solitude.
I do understand the concept. Working at a help desk, I certainly understand the need to get away from answering questions at your lunch time. When I don’t get enough time alone, I can be quite cranky, but more often than not, I find myself at the opposite extreme. I have a hard time writing, creating, or having new ideas because I don’t spend enough time with other people.
I’m an introvert by nature, which means I absolutely need time alone to recharge my batteries. Given my past history of depression, I can’t ignore that need to spend time alone without the pressure of interacting with people. (Yes for us introverts, being social is work, hard work in many cases.) On the other hand, too much time by myself only causes me to lose perspective. When the only thoughts and ideas I am exposed to are my own, well I’m not creative enough to keep that interesting, and the interaction I do have, in the form of blogging and such, tends to show that.
It’s all about finding the right balance, and using that to keep my writing interesting.
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by all means, find a place to slow down at least once or twice a week. Maybe while everyone else takes their “smoke break.” (I tried to get outside and walk around the building at least once a day.) But for relationships’ sake – business and otherwise – never eat alone.
I swear I’m going to just start prefacing my posts with “Steven Vore’s probably already written about this”! 😉
Seriously though, I don’t know that I could take both sets of advice. Most days lunch is my only “down” time at work, and because I cover the later shift most folks have already had their lunch. On the other hand, I do need to make more of an effort to interact where I can. Gotta find that balance.