Are You Solo? Or Alone?

When not with others, are you solo or alone?

The distance is vast.

And it’s not semantic. It’s freedom. And it’s power.

Who has it? Over what and whom is it dispensed?

Solo is the shepherd. Alone is the sheep.

But Solo is not just the shepherd… She’s also the God. 

Solo is the decider. The magician. The coordinator. The means by which things happen. The instigator, artist, architect, and musician. 

She is at once complete, while being open, able to drink in the Petit Serah she pours, while absorbing his or her story into hers. 

When alone, Ms. Solo dances on the continuum from placid to elated. Deep self-value is her supportive ocean. With friend, family, colleague or not, contentment doesn’t leave her. Solo is fundamentally independent of others.

And – She is the healthy state permitting us to appreciate another, since Solo is whole unto herself. She has her full self to give and is the place from which we lose and find ourselves in our work, a passion project, hobby, errand or another. 

It is from these roots that collaboration, partnership and progress prosper. Only when we’re fulfilled do we come together by choice, not need. It’s when 1+1=1. And 1 = the whole of everything. 

I do not want to meet or work with Mr. Alone. He is needy. He thinks and gives from a place of paucity, not prosperity. His new colleague or friend is filling too large a space in his life, one she should not readily accept, companion for companion’s sake. He will stay together, in a job or friendship, after your fit is ruled as foul, to avoid being alone.  

Let us dance contentedly solo before joining others. We’ll come together for the right reasons, with creativity, productivity, and to share joy, not to repel loneliness. 

When truly Showing Up, we’re never alone.

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Note: While I describe solo here as complete, it’s also in relation to everything and everyone else. Nothing exists in isolation. And nothing in this world is truly independent. This earth and all that’s on it interacts constantly. We are because of everything else.