“I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.” – Audrey Hepburn
I’ve never felt like Audrey Hepburn, she’s the epitome of elegance and style, two words I wouldn’t be associated with in a million years. But when read the quote at the top of this post I thought I could have written it.
I’m an introvert, a homebody, a modern hermit if you will.
I grew up as an only child, with my canine brother only joining our family when I was twelve. So I’ve always been happy in my own company. I was a child you could leave alone for hours to amuse themselves, in the garden, in front of the TV, or with my craft supplies (as long as you were prepared for mess to ensue).
Despite having been a hermit in the making for as long as I’ve been in the making, I’ve only recently started to truly own my love of solitude.
I used to be envious of people who wanted to go out all of the time, who had adventures and came back with stories of friends made, drama witnessed, love lost and found. I felt like there was something wrong with me because I was comfortable in my own company and wanted time alone as much as I wanted those adventures.
And let me be clear I still love adventure. Leave me to walk in the woods, to explore a new city, to eat anything and everything under the sun. But I want to do it myself or with, or as, a sidekick.
The hermits of the medieval period isolated themselves completely in order to practice religious contemplation. They had feld the monasteries they felt had lost touch with their ideals and sought a higher form of devotion, living self-sufficiently and only in praise of God.
When I say I’m a hermit that’s not quite what I mean.
But I love the history of the term and I think the idea of taking a step back from a society that can feel “absorbed in the ever-increasing complexity of their own rituals” in order to contemplate is where I feel like I’m at.
I love having time alone to think, to be.
It’s how I recharge as an introvert. But more than that I think that learning to be by myself has become a key part of who I am. So I’m going to own it.
There’s more to discover about my own hermitage and I’m as excited to explore being alone as much as I am to go on any other adventure. I hope any other modern hermits out there are too.
The final thought I want to leave you with is the definition of The Hermit in my tarot deck by Caitlin Keegan: “Sacrifice without regret. Self-care”
Etch that on my urn.
