* oft him anhaga are gebideð

last night I bumped into someone
I have only met once before
a brief conversation ....

"come up for New Years, how many of you are there?"
"just me"
"you'll have to look after yourself"
"oh I do"
"you look different? happy"
"I am!" 

thinking on it
just me
juste moi

it is no bad thing
when you spend enough time being quiet
when you don't speak out loud for a few days
your mind calms
your brain rests
you don't have to edit yourself
or react to the people around you
you choose to be alone for a enough time
to feel at peace

seeking out solitude crosses many cultures

and historical periods

Christian ascetic hermits

Sibyls of ancient Greece

Rishis of Vedic India

all valued the power of 'aloneness'

as a means of initiating transformative experiences

"happiness is inside us, not outside
thus
happiness is conditioned not on what we have
but on who we are"
- Pablo Neruda 

and so here I am travelling into 2019

I got here/I'm still here

huge credit to my backing singers
I'll take the lead

juste moi

happy?

you have no idea!

** title translation from The Wanderer
"often the solitary one finds grace for himself"