JUST CURIOUS JANE

JUST CURIOUS JANE - BOOKS AND HISTORY BY JANE GULLIFORD LOWES

The Art of Solitude

IMG_1959

Nuthatch Cottage (my photo)

Early November, in a small wooded valley on the edge of the Forest of Dean.

The only sounds are the soft crunch of frosted grass and gravel beneath my boots, occasional bursts of song from thrushes and blackbirds, the chirruping of a robin who appears to be following me, and the noise of my own breathing.  It quickens as I stride up the steep muddy path, and forms clouds before me in the crisp winter air.

I speak to no one. No one speaks to me.

I am completely alone with my thoughts – treasured memories of things past, things lost, things still to be, future hopes and future heartaches, but never regrets. A life lived in regret is no life at all. Regret distorts the memory of our past and the shape of our destiny.  In these quiet moments, fuelled by fresh air and limited only by the bounds of my imagination, dreams are made and plans formulated, possibilities weighed and ambitions measured.

Front door at Nuthatch Cottage

What a view from the front door (my photo)

I close the door of the tiny forester’s cottage that is my temporary escape from the world. I shut out the birdsong and the winter winds, shaking off my muddy boots in the hallway. I settle in the stillness and take pleasure in the quiet ordinary moments of the day; pouring tea from an earthenware teapot into a china cup, spreading open a newspaper on the worn oak kitchen table, taking the time to read every article, studying maps laid out upon the floor, throwing a fresh log on the woodstove.

Cottage lounge

Perfection…(my photo)

And I write. For hours. Perhaps even days. Words and ideas tumble onto the leaves of my notebook. Page after page after page, the pen in my hand barely able to keep pace with the ideas in my mind.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of words are written, but not a single word is said.

I speak to no one and no one speaks to me.

There is gentle, restful, restorative silence, punctuated only by the occasional turning of a page or the scratch of pen on paper, the spit and crackle of the fire and the gentle snoring of a snoozing Spaniel. He knows me and I know him. I don’t need words. Just a look, a raised eyebrow, a wag of the tail, a stroke of his silken ears. He reads my mind and I his, and we each anticipate the other’s every action.

Merry the Spaniel with maps

Merry planning his next adventure (my photo)

I delight in gazing out of the kitchen window, watching dusk creep in over the valley, pin pricks of light from distant farmhouses growing ever brighter. I linger there, leaning over the counter-top, until darkness descends, neither moon nor stars perceptible through the thick November night. All I can see now is my own reflection and the dying glow of the fire, mirrored in the window panes.

I sleep with the windows open. The bitter night air steals slowly into my room. There is something sensual about breathing in that delicious coldness whilst my limbs are cocooned in the warmth of a snug quilt.

I lie awake in the dark, my senses heightened, listening to the breeze play among the leaves, and the occasional screeching of a passing barn owl.

I smile though no one can see me. I am completely content.  I have mastered solitude. It is an art – the art of being alone, without loneliness.

“Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement”.

                                                                                                                                          – Alice Koller

LINKS

I stayed at the wonderful Nuthatch Cottage in the Forest of Dean. You can find out more and book here

MY BOOKS (NON-FICTION/HISTORY)

The Horsekeeper’s Daughter (2017)

The Horsekeeper's Daughter book cover

Above Us The Stars: 10 Squadron Bomber Command – The Wireless Operator’s Story (publication date Summer 2020 – now available to pre-order).

Above Us The Stars book cover

Next Post

Previous Post

6 Comments

  1. Kath Skinner July 2, 2017

    Always enjoy your blogs, excited for the book 👍

  2. Paul Sargerson July 2, 2017

    I still say you should be an ather full time , your writing is brilliant and we’ll thought out 🍸🍸✒✒✒

  3. Mick Carney July 2, 2017

    Another piece of quality writing. You echo feelings that have been integral to maintaining my limited grasp on sanity.

  4. Michael Keaarns March 3, 2020

    I found your blog this week, when coincidentally, I listed to this podcast. You might find same illuminating. Thanks for your thoughts. I look forward to reading more. https://www.upaya.org/2020/03/batchelor-art-solitude/

  5. john mccallion March 10, 2023

    Jane, what a lovely home and view! It looks like an ideal writer’s paradise! congrats on the MA!

    • Jane March 26, 2023 — Post author

      Thank you ! Sadly not mine, just a holiday cottage, but it was perfect! And thank you.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2023 JUST CURIOUS JANE

Theme by Anders Norén