“…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 my [...]

Solitude, SHOULD & The Hermit Uncertainty Principle

November 22, 2009

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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

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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 a “contemporary [...]

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

September 12, 2009

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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. Summer typically [...]

Unintentional Hermit Chuck Noland

May 19, 2009

Actor Tom Hanks created a truly Memorable Hermit  in the 2000 motion picture Cast Away. Hanks’ character, Fed-Ex manager Chuck Noland, is the only survivor of a plane crash and is forced to survive alone on a desert island for four years. His transition from a portly, time-obsessed urbanite to a tan, bearded, slightly-emaciated athlete is [...]

Hermit Psychology: Introverts Spinning Donuts In the Cave

April 29, 2009

It’s a fair assumption that most intentional hermits are introverts – like Griz and me. There may be a few extrovert hermits about, but they are likely unintentional hermits – living in solitude by accident or sacrificial choice – hiding from the law, castaways on uncharted islands, last-man-on-earth characters like Will Smith in I Am Legend.
Introverts as a whole (not just hermits) [...]

Umbrage, Part 2: "There Are No Happy Psychologists," Declared the Happy Hermit (Though It Didn't Really Matter)

March 29, 2009

Yes, I’m just trying to be provocative and I presume that is also Professor Christopher Peterson’s intent when he uses the phrase “there are no happy hermits” in his U. Michigan psychology lectures. But I’m quite certain I’m not the only happy hermit in the world, so I’ve decided to come to the defense of [...]