Robert J. Coplan

That's not a high quality solitary experience.

And so you could have that time alone and still not feel very satisfied with it.

And you could be so busy that you just don't have control over your schedule.

So you don't have control over your social schedule.

You don't have control over your solitary schedule.

And you can end up dissatisfied with all of it.

Yeah, so I mean, a quieter is actually a pretty good place to start.

The word, the one word that I would use to sort of as an umbrella term for all of the benefits of solitude, a lot of it has to do with freedom or different kinds of freedom.

So for one thing, solitude provides freedom from solitude.

So when you're among other people, when you're outside in the world, it's noisy, it's busy, there's a lot of input into your senses.

You have to watch how you behave, you have to watch what you say, you have to modulate your facial expressions and your posture, and you've got to pay attention to what other people are saying, and you're being bombarded with all these different kinds of sounds and input, and it can really be exhausting.

So for one thing, solitude is just a chance to catch your breath.

It's freedom from that input.

It's a chance for you to restore your battery, calm yourself down.

Solitude is a place where you have the freedom to have a respite, let the edge off of your negative emotions.

It's a place where you can be more likely to experience calm.

So for one thing, it's just a break.

And I think quiet is a pretty good way of summarizing one of the big advantages.

So that's the sort of the freedom from.

The other side of that is also it's a freedom to.