A Taste of Solitary

Solitary is a sad word to me-MOST of the time. Solitary is an adjective that means existing, living, or going without others; alone without companions Someone living a solitary life TYPICALLY, from my experience does not CHOOSE to live a solitary life. They are living this life due to circumstances that are often not within their control. Now I do think that a certain amount of solitude is good and even healthy. And a good game of old school Solitaire never hurt anybody! When we are by ourselves, we can learn to truely love ourselves and to enjoy silence and a slower pace. Often times when we are alone, we may be more likely to hear God's voice or prompting or to feel his prescence in our life. Depending on our personality, some people rejuvenate and are refreshed from times of solitude. For this reason, I think solitude can be a good thing.

But overall and in most circumstances, I believe that we were created to live in community. We were created to crave time and attention and love from others and to be refreshed by fellowship. A strong community can get through anything together. When we have been in the company of people who truely love us, we should walk away refreshed and encouraged as should the others who are part of that community.

I have to admit that each time I have moved to a new place I've thought, "I don't really need to make deep friendships here. I already have wonderful friends. I can get by and be happy enough by just keeping and maintaining those friendships and having some acquaintances in my new place." And for a while, that works. But then comes the realization that even though I still have those great friendships from the other places that I have lived-our friendship is now different and not what it used to be. It by no means is less important, but it's different. We can't pop on over to each other's house for a movie night or meet for dinner. To talk and catch up, it may be weeks or even months until we talk next. And that may be after playing phone tag for a while.

Sometimes when I've moved to the new places, I think I've been a bit hesitant to really invest deeply in new friendships because each time I've moved, I've had no sure idea how long I'd be in each new place. I'm tired of leaving people and in a way don't want to set myself up to be sad again if I feel like God has other plans for me. But really, this is no way to live. This sets myself up for a solitary life-one without true community. Now this move is a little different because I moved to be close to family. I absolutely adore and love spending time with them. I think since I've had this, I haven't been as quick to seek out other friendships. But I think that I'm supposed to, so here I go. I'm trying to be open to the friendships that God may have for me here-both friendships that will be mutually benefitting and those that may be a little more one-sided. I want to live and make the most of where I am right now. I don't want to miss out on something God may have for me. So here's to finding true community!