Today is Thoreau-back Thursday – which means….(brace yourself because this may come as a shock)…we have a quote from Mr. Henry David Thoreau!

We love this quote for right now because, (as you may have noticed) people are stuck in quarantine and spending A LOT more time in solitude…or less time depending on how many kids you have 😉

Whether you’re kidless or today’s Jon & Kate plus 8, introvert or raging extrovert – solitude is good for you, and allows us all to recharge our batteries just a bit! Think about it – if solitude was NOT good for you – then sleeping would be a group activity, eh?!

From a physical to a spiritual perspective – tons of studies have shown the benefits of spending quiet time with yourself, and doing nothing but really just listening to your own inner dialogue, and the natural sounds around you! On a physical level alone, spending time in solitude CAN: reduce levels of stress, balance the hormones in your body, increase your happiness and serotonin levels, help you sleep better, and overall allow you to tackle obstacles easier and more effectively. AKA: Solitude is some serious shiz, that can bring about some serious benefits!

PLUS, (and maybe most importantly) – our current pandemic is pushing us into it – whether we like it or not…so we might as well embrace the opportunity to become better companions for ourselves, and take our solitude seriously!

And, for those of us who claim we LOVE to spend time with ourselves…check in on that companionship! Ask yourself questions like: When I’m with myself, am I engaging in ME, or in external factors? (In other words) Does your “solitude” include a TV?

If your answer is yes, then you may be finding companionship with your external factors and not finding companionship in your internal state. And THAT is what we really love about this quote! It’s not just about spending time alone and thinking we’ve got this whole solitude thing on LOCK. Instead, Thoreau really pushes us to decipher whether we are truly making the intentional effort to give ourselves space from distractions, maybe even become a little bored, and seriously strengthen our relationship with self through solitude.

Because, when we get lost in our external lives (from dropping the kids off, to working out, to working, to making food and going to sleep) we miss out on the MAGIC of the universe INSIDE of us! But, when we take a second to really think about how amazing the human body is (and the universe of gazillion cells working within us every second), spending time with yourself may just start to feel more like spending time with a celebrity…

And, now that we DO have the opportunity to lean into this and appreciate the magic within as we stay inside, we can think of no better time to seek yourself out 🙂

Feeling like your 5 minutes of solitude earned you 5 minutes of sound? We’ve got you set up! Listen to an episode right here– for a quote to a quest in 5 minutes or less!