Once Upon a Time in a Cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains
If I were writing a fairytale about my life it would be one about a heroine princess who goes off to be alone. In the quiet of time spent alone she would discover special fruits with special powers, winds that talk, and stars that sing. At night she would sit by the fire and wonder. Her days would be filled with happy activity, making creations of words and color.
But it would also be a story about the perils of solitude because solitude is a double edged sword. A few slips, sharp wrong turns, and sweet solitude transforms into isolation. The heroine forgets her verbal language, how to speak, how to be with other people. Her hair grows longer. She is older. There is never enough solitude. The more she gets the more she wants. Day and night come and go and she forgets there is a difference between them.
Her prince hero returns. She remembers him but has forgotten how to talk. They gaze at each other. He knows the well she lives in. She breathes deeply, comes up for air. She blinks in the sunlight, feels a nearly forgotten sensation in her body. Moved by the power of being seen by another, her eyes fill with tears. And then she finds her voice and speaks.
“If I were writing a fairytale of my life it would be one about a heroine princess who goes off to be alone …”
January 5th, 2009 1:22 am
Sounds interesting – I’d read that!
January 5th, 2009 3:00 am
You must live in the same dark and magical forest as I.
January 5th, 2009 7:05 am
Very mystical and mysterious. I enjoyed reading it.
January 5th, 2009 7:36 am
Very deep and true to solitude and isolation.
January 5th, 2009 8:30 am
I’ve read this several times now, the last with tears welling. This is beautiful and powerful – it hits hard and touches deep – what amazing writing! I am so impressed with the insights in the little details. Thank you.
There is just so much in what you’ve written here…
January 5th, 2009 10:28 am
This is a true story. I just spent five days alone while Joe was off helping to run a teen meditation retreat.
Yes, Tabor. I should have referred more to the magical forest I’m surrounded by.
January 5th, 2009 10:54 am
it is so wondrous that we humans are solitary and social beings at the same time, and we can pendulum between the two?
I LOVE being with small groups, but I also NEED my time in solitary.
I am happy again this year, I think I am finding balance
I am so glad Net chick sent me to read this again.
My forest is stranger and less friendly in winter, but still a marvelous place.
January 5th, 2009 3:42 pm
It’s the balance that works so well, and I believe happily existing back in the woods, beside a river, surrounded by wildlife, then going to town, a very small town, where everyone smiles at you, is simply ideal. I grew up in a big city, much like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and knew I needed to take root in the country, in the hills, in the mountains.
Aren’t we fortunate that our partners understand this need?
January 5th, 2009 6:55 pm
Sounds like it would make a wonderful children’s book – with a good lesson incorporated into it.
Kat
January 5th, 2009 6:56 pm
Oops! that’s childrens’ book.
Kat
January 6th, 2009 12:57 pm
Bravo, beautiful piece.
January 6th, 2009 2:07 pm
the older i have gotten the more important solitude has become to me. i love having hubby home, but i enjoy the time, also, when he is at work and i have 9-10 hours of quiet space to myself. in fact, i have become almost reclusive at times, avoiding outings and resisting lunch plans while enjoying time with myself in the gardens or by the fire. it is nice to own my time fully and do exactly what i please without obligation to anything or anyone else.
January 6th, 2009 2:36 pm
That is a wonderfully written post.
March 6th, 2014 9:00 am
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