Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton died in 1968 (55 years ago) and I can't find exactly when he may have said or written this; but half a century on, I wonder what he might think of our materialism now?!?!?!
The murderous din of materialism is such a good way to describe it - it is not good for us, could well be the death of us and yet we continue to run like lab rats on a wheel collecting this, acquiring that, buying this, desiring that.
And solitude is such a a beautiful way to escape from it all. To literally turn the dial down, to reduce the screen time, to avoid the ka-ching and the comparisons, and to simply be, without interruptions, demands or pleadings for our time and our money.
Solitude seems like such a nice thing to me - it always suggest a warmth of quietude; a space to spend time with your thoughts and your dreams and your wonderings. It never feels lonely or alone.
Perhaps solitude is what we experience as we sit quietly reading or stitching, that place of being separate from the world whilst clearly still being in amongst it? Just us with our thoughts and our hands making things...
Or maybe just sitting staring...
Whatever it may be, it good for the soul.
I looked up solitude in m-w.com and found it to be "the quality or state of being alone or remote from society" ... and I quite agree with you that both stitching and reading can make one separate from the world, in a very good way ... as for the "din" I count myself fortunate to have a volume control button on my hearing aids that can shut out all noise ... unfortunately, I haven't yet mustered the strength to turn away from the relentless screens, which are surely materialism writ large
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz - solitude is a lovely place I think - especially if it is of your own volition. And perhaps the definition really helps with the use of the words "the state of...". And yes, materialism appears in so many shapes and sizes these days. Go well.
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