She can be reached at rebecca riotnewmedia. View All posts by Rebecca Joines Schinsky. In his new book Aflame: Learning from Silence , Pico Iyer reflects on the more than retreats he has made to a Benedictine monastery in the hills above Big Sur, California. There, away from cell service and the hour news cycle, he has found that turning away from the noise of the world allows him to hear his inner voice, to encounter the purest version of himself, and to return to his regular life and all of its relationships and obligations with greater clarity.
Now the world seems to sit at the center of me. The world is loud and only growing louder, offering us opportunities for distraction and disconnection at every turn. So, how do we tune in? That part about positive valence is where a lot of people get tripped up.
We need connection, absolutely, but constant connection, largely mediated by devices and algorithms, is not it. We need to learn how to be quiet sometimes. We need to learn how to step back. We need to learn how to be alone. Here are a few books that might help. Though MacNicol travels and lives alone, she is far from lonely; the book is full of wine-soaked meals with friends, sexy encounters, and the kinds of spontaneous experiences and adventures that become available when you show up by yourself and let the world work its magic.
Dillard observes natural wonders, big and small, as she contemplates her place in the world. Odell makes a powerful case grounded in art, philosophy, history, and social science for tuning out of social media and illusory connections so we can tune into our communities and the world around us. The book includes meditation techniques and mantras to anchor the practice of sitting still, making it a particularly good candidate for audiobook listening.
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