I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

— Henry David Thoreau

STILLNESS

WHAT THIS MEANS

A life needs all three amounts of company, and they are not interchangeable. Time alone does something that time with one friend cannot, and an evening among many people does something neither of the others will. Trouble comes when one crowds out the rest, when being alone turns into hiding, or when the crowd is used to avoid being known.

Count roughly how your last week divided among the three. Whichever one has gone unused for a while, make room for it before the next week is out, even briefly.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

How much room does your life leave for being alone?

MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE

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