Spending a holiday alone stings. It also teaches you that you can build a tradition from scratch.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Traditions feel like fixed objects, handed down and not up for discussion. Being outside one for a day hurts, and it also shows the seams: somebody decided on that meal, that time, that music. Which means the whole thing is buildable, and you are allowed to build.
If a holiday is going to be quiet, pick one thing in advance and make it deliberate. A particular food, a long walk, a film you watch every year from now on. It will feel thin the first time and sturdier the third, which is how every tradition started.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What tradition could you start that needs nobody else’s permission?
MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE
- Write a letter to the you of five years ago. You’ll find out what you actually learned.
- Swimmers learn exactly how long they can go before they need air. Learn your own limit before you’re gasping.
- Sitting in silence with a friend without it feeling weird means you’ve both stopped performing. That’s rare. Keep it.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.