There's a difference between solitude and loneliness. ~Maggie Smith
The documentary Maidentrip details the travels of a young woman, Laura Dekker, as she sets out to break the world record for the youngest person sailing around the world alone. She was ages 13-16 during the time of the film and ages 14-16 during the actual journey. In what I consider a wise move, Dekker chose to not try to do the trip as fast as possible as she wanted to stop and enjoy some of the locations she harbored in. The documentary is not incredibly long, and the only critique I had was that the footage can be a bit queasy at times for those of us who don’t do well with sea sickness/motion. The film is family friendly overall as long as you don’t mind Dekker swearing in English like a sailor on quite a few occasions. There are subtitles in quite a few places, too.
As I watched the film, I was amazed at my revulsion to the idea of such a trip. I didn't have an issue with Dekker making the trip though I’m not sure I would let my similarly aged children do the same thing. However, I knew immediately I would never enjoy such a voyage. Some of that is due to my above-mentioned seasickness, but something else struck a deeper chord that I had to explore to see why I had such a strong aversion to the concept.
It turns out this documentary tapped into the loneliness I felt during so many years of being homebound and isolated due to my chronic illness. There was no one around the vast majority of the time. Aside from my ex-husband, I rarely saw other adults. I am a highly sensitive person and an introvert, so I do desperately need alone time. However, I am also a social creature who enjoys going out with friends and attending various events. After those events, I need to crawl back into my cave and decompress, but the socialization fuels me and feeds my soul. Total solitude for days on end equates loneliness to me.
Choosing to be alone and having solitude is definitely one thing. Loneliness due to health issues and isolation is another. My experience with the latter has biased me against the first even though I enjoy solitude at times. You just won’t be finding me taking any two year solitary cruises around the world in this life!
© 2014 Green Heart Guidance
The documentary Maidentrip details the travels of a young woman, Laura Dekker, as she sets out to break the world record for the youngest person sailing around the world alone. She was ages 13-16 during the time of the film and ages 14-16 during the actual journey. In what I consider a wise move, Dekker chose to not try to do the trip as fast as possible as she wanted to stop and enjoy some of the locations she harbored in. The documentary is not incredibly long, and the only critique I had was that the footage can be a bit queasy at times for those of us who don’t do well with sea sickness/motion. The film is family friendly overall as long as you don’t mind Dekker swearing in English like a sailor on quite a few occasions. There are subtitles in quite a few places, too.
As I watched the film, I was amazed at my revulsion to the idea of such a trip. I didn't have an issue with Dekker making the trip though I’m not sure I would let my similarly aged children do the same thing. However, I knew immediately I would never enjoy such a voyage. Some of that is due to my above-mentioned seasickness, but something else struck a deeper chord that I had to explore to see why I had such a strong aversion to the concept.
It turns out this documentary tapped into the loneliness I felt during so many years of being homebound and isolated due to my chronic illness. There was no one around the vast majority of the time. Aside from my ex-husband, I rarely saw other adults. I am a highly sensitive person and an introvert, so I do desperately need alone time. However, I am also a social creature who enjoys going out with friends and attending various events. After those events, I need to crawl back into my cave and decompress, but the socialization fuels me and feeds my soul. Total solitude for days on end equates loneliness to me.
Choosing to be alone and having solitude is definitely one thing. Loneliness due to health issues and isolation is another. My experience with the latter has biased me against the first even though I enjoy solitude at times. You just won’t be finding me taking any two year solitary cruises around the world in this life!
© 2014 Green Heart Guidance
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