Why It’s Important To Get Away

We’re all stressed. We have stressful jobs, stressful relationships, stressful bills, commutes, loans, expectations for ourselves and others. We’re scared to change, scared of leaving familiarity behind, scared to let go and move on. We get overwhelmed and wrapped up in everything right in front of us. Time flies by and seems to leave us behind. We become lost, stuck, left without drive or vision, confused about what the future holds. We lose people we love and people we thought we loved and people who meant more to us than we intended. We’re always losing, always lost in the chaos.

But sometimes we just need to come to a complete stop. We need to take a step away from our lives, away from ourselves, and reflect. Life does not offer us calm and quiet and solitude. We must take it for ourselves. Sometimes everything around us can become so much it feels like we’re drowning. We need to pull ourselves up, not wait on others to save us, and take the breath we’re dying for. We need to get away.

Solitude is an essential part of survival. We must take the time to be alone in order to think, feel, reflect, and most importantly, gain insight into what we really need in our life. We spend so much time living and doing for others that we forget about who the most important person is in our lives. We need time to be quiet. Stop the conversation. Listen to our insides. Cry. Let out all the emotions that went unspoken and got pushed away underneath everything else directly burdening us. If you go ignoring your insides that are crying out, dying to be heard, you are not properly taking care of yourself.

At the end of the day, each and every single day, you are all you have. Pay attention to you. Take care of you. Take time off work. Go away somewhere for the weekend, completely alone. Relish in your own company. Listen to what has been paining you. Stop ignoring emotions or any nagging feelings you’ve been suppressing. Do things on your own schedule, at your own pace. Observe those around you. Do what you have been wanting to do. Eat out at a restaurant alone. Curl up and read all day. Go on a long walk at 9pm. Sleep alone and wake up alone and start again. You’ll suddenly have no choice but to see your life in a more reflective light and actually hear yourself. Are you really happy in your relationship? With your job? Have you been avoiding an aching feeling to travel because you’re scared? Are you putting off moving away because you fear the unknown? Have you been holding your tongue about something? Allowed yourself to get unhealthy, physically and mentally? Need satisfaction elsewhere?

Being completely and utterly alone exposes you to yourself. You can finally hear your own thoughts, feel your own emotions. If you are not aware of yourself and connected to yourself, than what are you doing here?

Quiet, undisturbed, reflective solitude: it’s what we need to be healthy — it’s what we need to survive.