busy studio and attended many spectacles and parties. Even his last
years were spent not in secluded retirement but in the bustling court
of King Francis I of France.
His occupation required this. As do many of ours.
Which makes cultivating moments of solitude all the more
essential. To find solitude, the way Eugen Herrigel said that the
Buddhist does, “not in far-off, quiet places; he creates it out of
himself, spreads it around him wherever he may be, because he loves
it.”
While Leonardo was working on The Last Supper, he would get
up early and arrive at the monastery before any of his assistants or
spectators, so he could be alone, in silence, with his thoughts and the
mammoth creative challenge in front of him. He was also notorious
for leaving his studio and going for long walks by himself, carrying a
notebook and simply looking and watching and really seeing what
was happening around him. He loved to visit his uncle’s farm for
inspiration and solitude.
It is difficult to think clearly in rooms filled with other people. It’s
difficult to understand yourself if you are never by yourself. It’s
difficult to have much in the way of clarity and insight if your life is a
constant party and your home is a construction site.
Sometimes you have to disconnect in order to better connect with
yourself and with the people you serve and love.
“If I was to sum up the single biggest problem of senior
leadership in the Information Age,” four-star Marine Corps general
and former secretary of defense James Mattis has said, “it’s lack of
reflection. Solitude allows you to reflect while others are reacting. We
need solitude to refocus on prospective decision-making, rather than
just reacting to problems as they arise.”
People don’t have enough silence in their lives because they don’t
have enough solitude. And they don’t get enough solitude because
they don’t seek out or cultivate silence. It’s a vicious cycle that
prevents stillness and reflection, and then stymies good ideas, which
are almost always hatched in solitude.
Breakthroughs seem to happen with stunning regularity in the
shower or on a long hike. Where don’t they happen? Shouting to be
heard in a bar. Three hours into a television binge. Nobody realizes
barry
(Barry)
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