Cooperative Living September 2018 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 72, No. 9
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
MARY HOWELL
Communications & P.R. Coordinator
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
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Web: co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Chairman
FLETCHER B. JONES
Vice Chairman
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson, Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N.
Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Michael
I. Wheatley, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon,
Community; James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, CraigBotetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell G.
Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck; Wade C. House, Stan C.
Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell W. Meyers,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Micheal E. Malandro, Prince
George; Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry C.
Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W.
Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
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asked to inform the Editor.
W
e're social animals. Yet the need to
get away is ancient and universal.
When English poet George
Gordon Byron wrote the passages below, the
crowded streets of London and the clanging
and clattering of the burgeoning Industrial
Revolution were no doubt the stresses from
which he sought refuge in nature.
We have additional stresses today. The
relentless pelting of never-ending news cycles.
Long-standing disputes among nations now
louder and shriller on a world stage shrunken
by technology. Electronic leashes making the
instant reply the
expected standard.
A coarser pitch to
public discourse, in
the village square
and the halls of
government. The
sheer frenetic
pace of life in the
21st century.
In Lord Byron's
There Is apleasure in the pathless woods,
There is arapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
- George Gordon Byron
day, early in the 19th century, news traveled
at a speed the eye could follow and the mind
could comprehend. A speed measured by the
waves slapping a ship's hull as it plowed
through the ocean. By the clip-clop of a horsedrawn
carriage. By the pace of a postman's walk.
News of the day was often days, sometimes
weeks, occasionally months old.
Attention spans were longer. For those
fortunate enough to have an education, strong
reading skills and the ability to practice them
for hours were essential to keeping up with
the latest in politics, science, travel, arts,
religion. Work was more tedious and difficult,
for sure. But without all of our 21st-century
diversions, there was also time to reflect on
what you had read ... to think more deeply
about it ... to exchange thoughts on it with
family and friends.
Albert Einstein famously said that
" Imagination is more important than
knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas
imagination embraces the entire world,
stimulating progress, giving birth to
evolution. " Einstein's rich imagination, of
2
course, is responsible for one of his signature
scientific achievements, the theory of general
relativity. And his rich imagination was fed by
spending time alone, deep in thought.
Granted, the history of humankind has seen
only a handful of Einsteins. And few sessions
of solitude will result in a scientific theory that
changes both our understanding and our view
of the universe. But let's face it, all of us can
benefit from spending a little time away from
what Thomas Hardy called " the madding crowd. "
So ... what defines a thinking spot, besides
solitude? Well, pretty much whatever excites
your imagination ...
or soothes your soul.
It could be a comfy
armchair in a quiet
room. A grassy spot
under the canopy of
an ancient maple tree.
A johnboat floating
downstream on a
slow current. A
padded pew in an
empty church. An Adirondack chair on the back
deck. The seat of a tractor. The top of a mountain.
The end of a dock at the end of the day.
In a world awash with stress points, it's
refreshing, restorative, indeed essential, to
spend some time with just yourself.
Surrounded by solitude. Alone.
Being alone and being lonely, of course,
are not the same thing. Without distractions,
we can think more deeply and fully about
things. Take stock of where we are in our
relationships - with family, friends, work
colleagues. Deepen our spiritual life. Map
out our plans for tomorrow. Our hopes for
the future.
Poet Lord Byron and German philosopher
Arthur Schopenhauer were two of the great
thinkers of the 19th century. Schopenhauer
wrote, " A man can be himself only so long as
he is alone; and if he does not love solitude,
he will not love freedom; for it is only when
he is alone that he is really free. "
Consider giving yourself the wonderful gift
of blessed solitude. You'll find it both free ...
and freeing. 
co-opliving.com
An Ode to Solitude
Once in a while it's refreshing, restorative ... and essential ...
to spend some time with just yourself.
http://www.co-opliving.com http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living September 2018

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