In 1665, a young college student was forced into quarantine from a vicious worldwide plague. He packed his bags and went back home to his family’s estate.
He was alone. He didn’t have zoom or skype to get direction or help from professors. He didn’t have an iPhone to flip through for Quora or reddit. No way to conveniently jump on YouTube for help videos. He had no significant other to infatuate over or lose his thoughts to. No attachments to anything except his purpose and goals. All the strings that hold down most people were torn, leaving him with nothing less than mental and emotional liberation.
Two years later, in 1667, He went back to college having discovered Calculus, the foundation to optics and the laws of gravity. The amount of productivity that was accomplished in such a short timeframe was borderline supernatural. He changed the way humanity views the world, alone. Scientists can only stand in confusion at how one twenty-five-year-old man could pull off such a ridiculously difficult task. To discover any one of these truths in a lifetime is fascinating, to discover all of them in two years, is astonishing and incomprehensible. His Name? Isaac Newton.
The world we live in today has countless things constantly screaming our name. From social media to work obligations, it seems our minds are consistently being bullied by distractions. We are all only a button away from looking at exotic vacations and social outings of other people. Social media has a way to make us feel as if we need constant social interaction to be happy or content. We must always be around our friends, at a club or bar. We must always be traveling with other people to truly experience the fullness of “life”. Our overall emotional well-being is held down by being alone, according to society. If you’re not “out” doing things, you’re essentially wasting away your life. Social interaction is part of being human, right?
I argue that being alone is necessary to make your mark in society. Consider the beauty in solitude. Being alone is a cheat code for success. When you’re alone, it reduces distractions significantly. The ability to truly let go of any attachments and hyperfocus on one thing is like pressing FastForward on a video. Consider being alone like a unique tool, one you can use to double your speed and efficiency. The amount of sheer time one gives away towards attachments ruins our focus more than we consider. How often are we thinking about things that have nothing to do with our passions? Do you think the amazing men and women before us who changed society allowed their minds to be infatuated with romance, entertainment or social status while they pushed themselves to success? The best way to make sure you’re lost in what matters is to let go of attachments and society for a time to get something done. It doesn’t have to be forever, even just a few months or years. A part of the equation for success is to walk a lonely road. Personally, I have argumentation for why no attachment to everything except passions, for life, is freedom (name of this website), but that’s a whole different direction.
Embrace solitude. Love it. To be alone, having no one around…just you and your thoughts can be such an incredible experience. Ignore society, walk the opposite direction of what it tells you and hyperfocus on your passions. When your mind is free from distractions, the door is fully opened for them to flow freely. If someone is religious, no matter what belief they have, the likely hood of divine intervention is far more probable, alone.
I believe that meditation is the key to true happiness in life. Our minds are the source of our peace, content and overall emotional well-being. How fascinating is it that someone can be dirt poor, have nothing and genuinely go to bed at night with an honest smile? One can have everything, social status, money and looks yet still be deeply troubled mentally to the point they are drowning in sadness. The consistent aspect here is the state of the mind of these two individuals. Content ultimately is the single greatest concept we as human beings can possibly understand. If I had ten seconds to tell my sixteen-year-old self-something, I’d anxiously tell him to marry content and comprehend its meaning. Interestingly, people are sent to solitary confinements as a form of severe punishment in life. It is the ultimate in suffering for even the worst criminals. If this doesn’t prove that being alone isn’t a hell on earth for people, I don’t know what is. With this being said, I believe one can be in solitary confinement for years and still be happy. Our entire experience as “human” is our minds. It is, quite literally, everything to our happiness. My purpose in going over content here is to help you comprehend that being alone should never be a treacherous journey, but a peaceful, content one. Your mind determines your happiness.
Go out and change the world. Stab a deep mark into society before you leave it. Even if you don’t do it, you tried and that gives you existence a higher purpose. Never look at solitude as a negative thing, but a perfect opportunity to change the world. Never toss your happiness to other people or things, allow them to only add to what you’ve already created, alone.
-Jarom
NO ATTACHMENT IS FREEDOM 