Celebrating Time Alone: Stories Of Splendid Solitude

by Lionel Fisher

Choosing to enrich your life by yourself is very different from being “lonely.” In Celebrating Time Alone , Lionel Fisher shares his personal reflections on solitude, brought into sharp focus by living alone for six years on a remote Pacific Northwest beach.

He supplements his own reflections by interviewing men and women in sixteen states, in both rural and urban settings, who have stretched the envelope of their aloneness to Waldenesque proportions.

All the material is intended to offer counsel, inspiration, affirmation, insights, encouragement, and advice on living well alone, to help learn to use solitude and periods of aloneness for self-discovery and personal growth—whether they choose aloneness or have it thrust on them.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Lifestyle

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2001

About the author

I write for a living, always have, always will, at least that’s the plan. As a wordsmith-for-hire my entire professional life, I’ve been a corporate communicator, advertising/​public relations copywriter-creative director, journalist, columnist and freelance writer, not necessarily in that order, though jointly at times, living and working in glorious metropolises from Hong Kong, my borning place, to Manila, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, Portland, Oregon, and finally Ocean Park, Washington. Now, in much greater seclusion, I write books of the self-hinder genre on a Pacific Northwest beach to which I moved 19 years ago. “I haven’t retired, just retreated,” read the notice I tucked into my Christmas cards that December of galactic change. “This year I stopped the world and got off. On Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula, about a mile from Oysterville. Drop by for a beer if you’re in the neighborhood. If I’m not home, check the beach. I’ll probably be walking the dog.” This is a writer’s place, solitary, reclusive, resonant with stillness, the last knuckle on a rain-scoured finger of land lapped by the beige waters of Willapa Bay and the gray Pacific, wrapped in khaki sands and olive clouds except in summer when the sky is the color of washed denim. Here, wind and water lean on the land, thrusting a constant coolness from across the sea, buffing the stars at night to an awesome brilliance. Here, after a lifetime of writing for others, I write strictly for myself. But because the sacred rite isn’t complete, doesn’t achieve its holy purpose – the writer’s divine culmination of being read – I write for you as well. And I am overwhelmingly grateful for the reciprocal attention.

Reviews

[Robert Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took awhile reading this book. The start date posted above is when I re activated this GoodBooks account. My reading was at a much slower pace, typically on passage a day with those days being Saturday & Sunday.

Solitude is a gift to the self away from the noise of everyone else. This book was a nice long slow walk of gentleness. Each of the fifteen chapters channels unique perspectives on being alone with the self - about being alone at different places, different phases.

I'll be back to read it again. Once I get through some of the other books lazing around.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great thoughts and reflections on purposeful or accidental solitude.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of little bits of good wisdom in here.
About 3/5 of it is interviews with other people, which is where almost all of the wisdom comes from.
The rest is self-oriented musing, which has a much, much lower wisdom content.

[Tamra Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to give this book a 3.5. It was easy and interesting to read. Mr. Fisher has a broad definition of what a solitary life is: he includes everything from a woman living in a remote, off-the-grid cabin by herself to men who have recently been divorced and are living on their own though still engaged in work and other social activities. Fisher uses mainly quotes from the various individuals he either interviewed or received emails from. It is a thought provoking book, including preparing for death.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some bits more useful than others but that is what you expect with this style of writing. Lots of brief stories and comments from a variety of other people - something is bound to resonate with you. Like a previous reviewer I found the authors own musings a bit unnecessary at times.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touches on so many things - business, denial, death. A new bible for me.

[Joe Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book on people who live on their own. A lot have been divorced but some have always been on their own as adults. While most handle solitude ok, some do not.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good insights gleaned from living alone, much about being at peace with yourself and not dependent on the opinions of others. The author didn't tell much of his own story, but mostly stories of the many people he interviewed who had chosen to be alone.

[Carleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Much of the misery we cause ourselves comes from doing things for others we would never do for ourselves." -Lionel Fisher

[Marcel · Rating 3 out of 5]

(…) it was too late for me, that each of us have to live in the world we create for ourselves, that my disposition was my fate and I had to make the most of it.

This book is a collection of life-pictures of various individuals who have (due to different circumstances) ended up living alone for most of their recent years. The real-life characters describe their daily routines and feelings, sharing their thoughts on living in solitude.

Solitude makes you obsessively self-reflective, which is an affliction and a cure, all in one.

The book focuses, among other things, on how people turn solitude into a blessing instead of a disposition. By cutting out people from our lives, we create a lot of free time to spend doing whatever we wish. It is important to use it for personal growth and self-care. It is our responsibility alone to take care of ourselves and not waste that gift.

We peer out at the rest of the world from our cabin windows and can’t help wondering if we’re missing something. (…) Married people must feel the same way when they view the freedom of single people.

Other people are mirrors in which we’re able to see our own reflection… so what happens when we spend most of our lives alone? We don’t become invisible, instead we develop the ability to reflect our own feelings onto ourselves. To act accordingly to our needs, to listen to the quiet voices in our heads, to soothe the anxious mind. As the masters of our own fate, we are able to change the ways we perceive the world around us. There is no one to tell us we go about things the wrong way, no one to bring us down. It is the most liberating thing in the world, but only if we can adapt to a hermit’s life.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Излишният интелектуализъм наистина е доста дразнещ и сега разбирам защо баба ми постоянно ми казваше като бях малък да не се правя на много умен, защото хората няма да ме харесват.

Идеята за книга, която поглежда хората, избрали да живеят живота си сами не през призмата на самотата е добра, но за съжаление настоящата книга изобщо не се справя с нея. По-голямата част от историите, разказани в някакъв полу-интервю стил се въртят именно около самотата и повечето хора изглеждат по-скоро нещастни от избора, който са направили в живота, а авторът се опитва да прикрие това чрез празно философстване.

Ако не си щастлив сам недей да живееш сам, толкова ли е сложно.

[Ron Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up when I noticed that, having reached the early years of old age, several my best friends had developed the nasty habit of dying on me. There are already precious few people who give a hoot about the odd assortment of ideas rattling around inside my head. I had two thoughts about this: a) maybe I should start thinking about constructive ways of dealing with solitude, and b) how much work do I feel like putting into making new friends at my age? But “b” is a story for another day, this was about “a”.

Unfortunately, this book was not of material assistance to me. It’s both the story of a writer who decided that he needed to live by himself in order to understand himself better and a project he launched to talk with a bunch of people who were experiencing solitude. Some of these people were lonely, others were not. It includes interviews and the author’s comments on people who love being alone and actively seek isolation, others who found themselves alone through no choice of their own, and some who were dying with or without having anyone close to them.

Several of the stories are touching, others I found remarkably uninteresting and uninformative. Because this is a random assortment of stories about people with very different issues, and who all dealt with their issues in very different ways, most of what I read didn’t translate into anything very useful. Maybe you would read this book and find a person dealing with exactly your issues in a way that makes perfect sense to you. I didn’t. I’m not giving up on the topic – there are, after all, lots of not-so-great books out there. I’m going to try Anthony Storr’s Solitude next, maybe after a wee break from this topic.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's another one of those books where it's me and not the book.