Learning to be alone

When was the last time that you were alone? I mean truly alone. Not on the way to work, or in Starbucks before a meeting or even on the toilet. When were you last truly cut off, intentionally - seperate? We have never been so connected, so immersed, so attached as we find ourselves today. We sit in on the tube idly fiddling with iPhones and Blackberry's. I find myself constantly connected via twitter of facebook or foursquare to my extended network.

The truth is that it's very rare for us to be alone any more.  Which get's me wondering if that's ok or not? I think maybe not - which may seem odd coming from me. My job is getting people to talk more, to share, to connect. Even here, writing this now I have email open, tweetdeck, the TV on in the background and my iPhone in my pocket.

Introspection

I think by never truly being alone, we find ourselves missing out on something truly key to who we are - introspection. Seeing who God has made us to be, who we are becoming, or worse striving to become like. I think we fear that element of looking at ourselves in case we don't like what we see when we go there - but we must.

Jesus called us to 'be still and know that I am God' - That is pretty tricky to do with all these distractions, so I have a challenge for you - find some time this week to be alone. Take a look at where you have come from, where you are going and where you are - because it's in that place of alone-ness that we see how valuable our connectedness really is.

*Thanks to @flowerdust for her post "Do You Feel Lonely?" - which prompted this Lamentation*