This chapter explores how choice and personality traits impact a person's ability to handle isolation, discussing varying capacities for solitude and reliance on external stimulation. It includes personal anecdotes and touches on the benefits of cultivating a rich inner life and finding distress relief.
Over the past few weeks many of us have been living more isolated lives than we’re used to. We might not be in government-mandated quarantine but there’s no doubt that COVID-19 has upended our social lives. Yet isolation can be deeply troubling for humans because we’re social animals; and that’s just as true in our current circumstances as it is in very extreme forms of isolation.