In a recent interview for The Sunday Times, the pop singer Olly Murs is quoted as saying, “one thing I do struggle with is not getting enough alone-time”.
Unfortunately he doesn’t elaborate on this, so we don’t get even a hint of why he needs this. It’s intriguing because, as readers of the What Men Do Guide are aware, we’re big supporters of time alone.
One of the curses of living in this Age of Technology is that it provides so many adult toys to add to the
number of distractions.
The result is that, even when you’ve managed to provide yourself with a couple of hours to ‘think things through’, some gadget springs to life to disturb the solitude.
And this condition is much misunderstood because, from our experience, most guys these days would consider the idea of ‘solitude’ to be a description of something negative, something to avoid if at all possible.
That ‘time alone’ solitude is much favoured by the Guide is because we believe it’s increasingly necessary in order to have the hours to learn to know oneself.
Regularly one hears constant reference to the importance of ‘communication’; indeed, ‘good communication skills’ are now highly valued as a big help towards obtaining employment. This suggests that adolescents spend so much time in the
gives.
grip of technology that their ‘communication skills’ are greater with some form of technology than with their fellow human beings.
What adds to the interest of his observation is that Olly Murs is now aged 29.
In the Guide there are several references to the idea of Life being broken up into (roughly) 7-year periods with particular reference to the fifth period which begins around age 28. at 21 it’s possible to convince yourself you’re still a teenager but by age 28, well, who’s kidding who?
With the dreaded age 30 looming, all the elements which make you a human being – physically, mentally and sensorially come together (we reckon, lurking in the solar plexus area), clearly indicating that it’s time to perform from a new script.
By that time enough life experience has been lived – or wasted – to indicate that a new perspective is fast becoming a necessity: the question is, based on the time already gone, how well do you know yourself? How close is the ‘appearance’ you’ve been presenting to
the world via your outer shell to the invisible reality nestled in your heart?
Does the word ‘Friend’ have any meaning for you or is your ‘little black book’ only filled with those you’ve listed to feed your short term ambitions, and the needs of your ego?
Yes; it would have been fascinating to learn the why’s and wherefores of Mr. Murs’ need for alone-time.