Can loneliness lead to solitude?

Hello there, 

I  have lived in a metropolitan city of India for 26 years before I moved to UK and then later on to the USA. Everyday in my life back in India used to be very busy. 

I have a big family back there. My school, work, family and friends, hobbies, social life etc. always kept me busy round the clock. The city and people around me had a big influence in making me an independent  and bold girl  at a very young age. Never did I have a calm, lone time spent that I can recall of. Only time I would be all by myself most of the days were when I was dead tired and sleeping in the night. I was someone who thought I could never be alone all by myself as I never had to in the buzz of  a busy city .

But over the years after moving out from my comfort zone, culture, family and friends I realized ‘SOLITUDE' was different from ‘Loneliness’. In the past I never really experienced loneliness to begin with let alone be on a  journey in the path of solitude. At least in my case, to get away from loneliness I started exploring a whole new world where I spent hours doing something I love , all by myself.

And now I am at a stage where I enjoy cooking couple of hours with music being played out loud or indulge in a cup of tea sitting in my balcony with thoughts and memories flowing in or meditate in a dark space with a blank mind or paint something or go running outdoors alone or simply stroll around a new city or a place . I don’t know if this is solitude. But what I do know is it isn’t loneliness and I am enjoying every bit of it.

In the above picture, I am onlooking a frozen lake at a resort I stayed over this winter. Though I wasn’t alone when this was snapped,  I can relate how I feel about being alone and content with this picture. Hence sharing with you all with a question in mind ' Can loneliness lead to solitude if worked on it positively ?' 

Have a great weekend !

-Bash

Confessions of a bar(re) lover!

Barre? Yes. Barre lover? Oh yes! I am the type of girl who gets bored so easily by monotonous gym equipment and constantly long for variety and human interaction for work outs. For those people who has relentless urge to stay fit and doesn't care how may not really understand my point. To me, fitness is 50% obligation and 50% fun, grin.I am happy about inheriting a lot of things from my bloodline like wheatish skin tone, love for food, kanchi saris, gold, stringed jasmine flowers, etc. There's one thing I totally hate is inheriting stubborn fat in my love handle. Hi-5 to all those who agree.

So under the "obligation" I started working out in 2008 and I must say I loved the way I felt after shedding a few kilos. But the "machine" routine got me boring. I should give it to my grandma who used to wake me up every morning at 6 am to get me going to gym and when I refused to wake up she will start yelling from the kitchen complaining about how I'm wasting the money I paid to the gym. Grandma problems I say. I then spent more money and enrolled in a gym which has variety of group exercises like aerobics and yoga which really thrilled me. I remember waking up with extra energy to attend those classes. Later I moved abroad and explored many more types like Zumba, Insanity, Tabata, Spinning, Kick boxing, Boot camp and Body Pump. All these I have listed are really great alternatives to the regular routine and they vary a lot from each other. Zumba, Insanity and spinning are great cardio routines by building the stamina. Body Pump helps in building and toning all the muscles . Tabata, Kick boxing and Boot camp are killer routines which is a mix of cardio and strength training. I really mean it.

I don't have a great health record and I struggle a lot in the above mentioned killer routines where my trainers would constantly be calling out my name to motivate me. Recently, I got introduced to Barre workout which is based on ballet moves. I have 2 different instructors and one is manageable while the other one challenges us. After doing this for about 6 weeks (twice a week) I definitely see noticeable difference in my legs. The first class was really funny where I heard the terms plea and releve for the first time. For starters, these are ballet moves/positions which I had no idea about and still trying to understand. Most of the moves are done on tippy toes which is called 'releve' but we always have an option to stand on our full feet. The class starts with warm up exercises which is then followed by arm using weights and leg workouts using the bars. It usually ends with a couple of core exercises after which our body pleads for rest. But again, having a great instructor is the main motivating factor for any activity. I look forward to my Friday morning ballet classes mainly because of my instructor who has a son (18+ years old), an amazing body, stamina, personality and knows the art of teaching. And I have an additional advantage of a good company, my colleague who motivates me as well. Both of us cry in pain when we do those pleas, oh god. But at the end of the day we feel really fresh and good for doing something nice to our bodies. So what are you waiting for?

Love, 
Bri