pt. 3 "solitude"
Photo by Cheryl Pavia
In an attempt to declutter my life --most fittingly, the day after leaving my current management position, I decided to clean out my computer files.
Of course, Rina of 2014 wanted to surprise me now in the future because I stumbled upon a .doc file entitled "Leadership" which I completely forgot about. I must have saved it right before I started grad school for safekeeping. In the document, I copied 3 paragraphs:
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"So it’s perfectly natural to have doubts, or questions, or even just difficulties. The question is, what do you do with them? Do you suppress them, do you distract yourself from them, do you pretend they don’t exist? Or do you confront them directly, honestly, courageously? If you decide to do so, you will find that the answers to these dilemmas are not to be found on Twitter or Comedy Central or even in The New York Times. They can only be found within—without distractions, without peer pressure, in solitude.
It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise. And often even that idea doesn’t turn out to be very good. I need time to think about it, too, to make mistakes and recognize them, to make false starts and correct them, to outlast my impulses, to defeat my desire to declare the job done and move on to the next thing.
You are creating a cacophony in which it is impossible to hear your own voice, whether it’s yourself you’re thinking about or anything else. That’s what Emerson meant when he said that “he who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.” Notice that he uses the word lead. Leadership means finding a new direction, not simply putting yourself at the front of the herd that’s heading toward the cliff."
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I immediately went on a google search and reread the article in its entirety and let the author's words process. It was the perfect time to rediscover them. I wouldn't be surprised if I was bumping Solange when I was rereading the article.
And I took a few days to let the words sink in, but I knew I was just scratching the surface, I knew this all along.
"[The answers] can only be found within -- without distractions, without peer pressure, in solitude."
If I was writing a research paper, this would be added to my references for supporting evidence: Source #2.
Can there be any more to add to my growing list of what I had to do?
Also reads: Do you think you're up for the challenge of your lifetime? our generation?
Fuuuuh. This might be too heavy.
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The entire essay is found below and I hope you take some time out to reflect on the importance (more than ever) of solitude which is a study of 4 parts, as described by Deresiewicz:
1) introspection
2) concentration of focused work
3) sustained reading
4) relationships
(please click below for an insightful read)
Solitude and Leadership
By William Deresiewicz