Solitude

 Many people think of solitude as being by yourself, but it is not.  Being by yourself is being alone.  No one else is around.  Being by yourself is not the same as being "with your Self."  Solitude is being with, being in touch with your true inner self, the self of the heart.  This self is part of the original package when you were created, came into being.  It is untouched by group-think, culture, trying to fit in, the ongoing reinventing of yourself for others to see.  The door into the place of this true self is prayer.  Not words or thought prayers, but something more of meditation or resting in a quietness, undisturbed by thoughts, memories, fears and the demands of the imagination.  Whereas the manufactured outer self is at times uncomfortable and disturbing, the truer, inner Self is a place of rest.  Why?  Because it is really You.  And at times a place of discovery.