When the Quiet Quiet Down

May 30, 2010

Here’s one for the hermit researchers – or the shrinks. The wordiness of life has been bugging me more than usual lately. It’s been almost six weeks since I’ve written anything for this blog and I have to confess there were moments when I seriously considered abandoning the endeavor.  I’ve talked about these phases before. [...]

“…quite a lot of solitude.” – Agnes Martin

March 14, 2010

Most hermits we actually know about are not hermits absolutely.  For the memorable hermits list, I look to individuals who experience solitude deeply, report back and return to solitude, having discovered solitude’s value to them as a desired state. Those, like Agnes Martin, who speak of solitude as part of the creative process have a special [...]

Blogopause with Aside of Cat Blogging

January 19, 2010

Where’d she go? I realize it’s been almost three weeks since I posted.  That probably shouldn’t  bother me or anyone else at this point; though I do wish I hadn’t read all those best-blogging-practices articles before I started this blog. “Three posts per week plus three comments per week on other blogs” always sticks in [...]

Loving, Liking, & Living With: The Vista from the Long Haul

December 16, 2009

Michelle Obama, to Oprah on The Christmas at the White House special (via psychobabble): “I think we have a wonderful marriage. I love my husband.  He’s my best friend. But I always like to talk honestly about it because I think about other young couples who think there are no struggles to get here. And [...]

True Lover of Solitude

December 6, 2009

A poem – one of solitude’s trinkets. Or why I don’t write sometimes – I often yearn for The wordless place Of quiet brushstrokes And gently rustling nature, Where falling backward In total trust Without direction Feels as perfect As its common opposite. Where the restful process Of simply being Is creativity enough. And this [...]

Solitude, SHOULD & The Hermit Uncertainty Principle

November 22, 2009
Tree surgeon trimming a tree

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I admit it. One of my attractions to solitude is the free pass it provides – a free pass from should. When you live in solitude, no one cares if you’re naked or nocturnal – as long as you’re self-supporting (sometimes tough in solitude) and not bothering anyone (extremely easy in solitude). Why would anyone [...]

Memorable Hermit Georgia O’Keeffe: “…No One to Satisfy Except Myself.”

November 17, 2009
Georgia O’Keeffe in Abiquiu, New Mexico, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, August 16, 1950

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The Lifetime Channel recently aired a made-for-TV movie entitled Georgia O’Keeffe starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. In spite of excellent acting, the movie was a big disappointment to me* [see footnote], focusing primarily on O’Keeffe’s turbulent love affair with New York photographer Alfred Stieglitz (played by Irons), her ultimate marriage to him and her [...]

Hermit Research: Pseudonyms & Tracking Collars

September 27, 2009
ResearchBlind

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I  looked out the front window this morning just in time to see two grad students fitting Griz with a tracking collar before he recovered from the effects of their tranquilizer dart. Then I woke up. But I know what prompted the dream: yet another hermit researcher found this blog and hoped for an interview with [...]

Ration of Solitude: Sorry, My Cell Phone’s Been Sleeping In

September 12, 2009
TinCanPhones

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Griz and I have had mobile phones since the days when they were big and clunky. They’re an invaluable tool, no doubt about it – especially for a household with disparate careers, pressing family commitments and frequently a lot of highway miles surrounding it all. Modern-day schedule juggling – a phase from which Griz and [...]

"The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves” – Mozart

July 31, 2009

I’ve decided to take the month of August to remind myself of life without blogging and Twitter. I haven’t been a very active blogger (or Twitteur) over the last couple of months anyway… …the hermit needs a break – again. In reality I’ll probably only get about a week of solitude out of the deal. [...]