Reflections on Solitude
I'm interested in the power of words. Some words are potent! Words like toxic, ambush, or pandemic pack a punch, because they draw on underlying assumptions and fears. Other words are more neutral. Consider the degrees of difference between the words: byproduct, waste, and toxin. What about the weight of the words: unforeseen, concealed, and ambushed? Some words bring comfort or offer strength, while others create distrust or hopelessness. The words we choose tell stories within our stories, and recognizing this gives us power. There are so many things over which we don't have control, but the way we talk to ourselves is not one of them.
Right now I'm noticing some frequently used words and phrases, and I'm wondering what effect they are having on us? When I first heard people tossing around words like Quarantine and Isolation, I was startled out of complacency, and I went to the source to find out more. According to the CDC, Quarantine refers to the temporary separation and restriction of movement of those who have been exposed to contagions to see if they become sick, whereas Isolation separates people who have become sick from those who have not. Somehow, these definitions comforted me; I was learning the language and that meant I could begin to make sense of what was being asked of us, and why, from a public health perspective, anyway.
Since then, I have heard other new words and phrases become a part of our lexicon, as officials at all levels began responding proactively by shutting down Non-Essential Commerce and creating campaigns for Social-Distancing. While I have yet to hear an outcry of offense toward the description of much of the service industry as Non-Essential, Physical-Distancing has been proposed as a more appropriate term for the activities that the distancing practice limits. On the other hand, I appreciate the creativity that has led to some states naming their community-wide practices as Shelter-in-Place, or Safer-at-Home. But I have also heard people widely using terms such as Confinement, Isolation, Shutdown, and even Lockdown to refer to these same mandates. Depending on what story you're trying to tell, any one of these phrases may be more useful to you than another.
Might I suggest that, while the commonly used term, Isolation, may perfectly well describe our collective effort toward lessening the social impact of this virus, Solitude might better describe the capacity of our individual experiences within it? Both words stem from the Latin root, sol, meaning to be alone, but Isolation carries with it a sense of loneliness and forced separation, whereas Solitude speaks of a personal choice and a yearning to go deeper within. Solitude is the first stage of many initiatory rites, and is often followed by letting go or loss, and passing through a period of trials or obstacles, before finally achieving a state of transformation or renewal. It is possible that each one of us is passing through a global, as well as an individual, initiatory rite at this time. We don't know what we are going to discover about ourselves in the process, but there is so much we have yet to learn.
If we could choose to make this virus go away, we would. But the power each one of has is actually much more local than that. We can make time during this period of Isolation for Solitude. We can choose activities that encourage reflection, contemplation, reassessing, and inner exploration. We can choose the times when we are ready to reach out to others to offer and to receive support. And we can choose the words we use carefully, because they're building the stories we're telling ourselves, and our stories are powerful!
