There's power and beauty in it.
Tradition tell us that what people fear the most is Public Speaking. It’s higher than Death on the list of horrors to be avoided.
But I think that’s changing.
Public Speaking is indulged in every day by an increasing number of people, which proves its power to instill fear is waning. These brave people don’t stand on a makeshift box and propound their thoughts through a megaphone to those who choose to stop and listen. Instead, they just talk loudly on their phones in public places.
What people fear most now is Being Alone Without Their Phone.
Let’s admit it: this situation puts us into panic mode. The very thought that we might’ve left our phone behind forces us to give ourselves a body frisk worthy of a jittery airport official with hives.
Imagine yourself in a coffee shop, a long queue, a bus stop or a public spot without your phone. You don’t have a friend with you. You don’t have your phone. You are truly alone.
Why is that thought almost unbearable?
What do you fear about being alone?
Why do you cringe when you find yourself in solitude?
How come your fingers twitch with longing to grasp a phone in order to engage with someone else’s thoughts?
It’s because you fear that you — on your own — are not enough.
You fear your thoughts about yourself.
You don’t like what you seem to be turning out to be.
But these thoughts are just bits of fluff under the bed that you’ve turned into monsters. They have no substance. They’re not real.
In her poem The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote:
I want to know if you can be alone With yourself, And if you truly like the company you keep In the empty moments.
Why not find out?
Take yourself for a walk. Locate a flat rock or a soft patch of earth. Sit on it. Be with just yourself for a little while.
I’ll tell you a little secret: there’s power and beauty and peace in being alone.
There’s nothing to fear.
You are enough.
Leave your phone alone at home.
With love, Marlane