I wonder how long it would take to get sick of a life of total solitude.
Imagine moving to a small house in the-middle-of-nowhere-Alaska.
I think many people would start to lose their minds after just a few days, but I think I’d be able to go a quite a while without speaking to a single person if I had to. I think I would honestly enjoy it for a few weeks, start to get sick of it after a few months, and then begin to resent the experiment/myself after more than a year.
The thing is, I never have time for myself in my current life. I always have somewhere to be and something to do, literally all of the time. I haven’t a single day in 6 years where I’ve been “just chilling.” To those who enjoy a life of “just chilling,” I hope you “just chill” your way off a cliff, because you don’t appreciate how lucky you are.
This being said, I acknowledge that it COULD be worse. I’m not homeless (at least not yet), and for that, I’m very fortunate.
I still would like to throw away all responsibilities, at least for a day or two, just to see what it would be like.
I would find so many ways to fill up my time if I had no responsibilities. I would get SO MUCH reading done. I would be writing constantly, rather than working other jobs to maintain financial stability.
If I had a considerable amount of time completely by myself, I think I’d “get to know myself” pretty well.
A few months ago, I decided to start subtracting 30 minutes from my scheduled sleep hours (which were already at a perilous low, so removing an additional half-hour from whatever sleep I was getting was probably a near-fatal decision, in hindsight). That 30 minutes was to be strictly spent self-analyzing and self-reflecting somewhere in nature. To sum it up, I’d lie down on the floor outside and stare at the sky for 30 straight minutes, ultimately in an attempt to arrive at conclusions about myself.
I did this every single day for 3 months through clear skies, cloudy skies, rainy skies, and snowy skies (sometimes, I had to wear a blanket/garbage bag to protect myself from the elements).
This gave me the answers I was looking for (as well as frostbite and Acute Hypothermia, but that’s not as compelling).
Seriously, though. I did arrive at a number of conclusions about myself/truths about the universe. I’m realizing as I write this, however, that I never actually acted on ANY of my discoveries.
I suggest you all find a few minutes of “free-play” every day. There’s always 30 minutes to shift around somewhere, even if it means sleeping slightly less (get over yourself; I’ve been averaging 4 hours of sleep a night for the last 6 years).
The world is way too hectic. We never have time to sit down and think anymore.
Simply sitting and thinking for a few minutes can be incredibly meditative. It’s relaxing, but it’s also productive for your mental development.
Analyze your own behavior and ponder to yourself how to improve.
You can always be better, especially considering you’re probably not all that impressive.
Until next time,
Michael J. Erickson, CEO & Co-Founder
