Looks like wordpress.com has made strident improvements to its website. Good. I hope this time it will not torture the formatting of my posts. Anyway, on to what I want to say.

It’s not that I hate people. Sometimes people cannot understand my desire for solitude because they are constantly busy and have no time for thought, calm, peace. My friends and family often interpret my time alone as a message that I do not like them but this isn’t the case. I just want to be alone.

With all of the cacophony that is daily life, it’s very important to have time alone. Not just for myself, everyone should take some time to calm the fuck down. I’ll turn off my cell phone and play my guitar, or just lay in bed and listen to an album. Sometimes I’ll get high and ride my motorcy on western roads at noon, where the overhanging trees provide a cool and pleasant journey and I don’t have to think about a goddamn thing.

The other day I rode my motorcycle for the first time in probably two weeks. I road alone, and I started by heading north, until I saw a sign pointing west. I rode into Arlington, continued into Concord where I followed familiar roads until I came to a round-about. I rode in a circle four or five times before I decided to follow the road with the pleasant looking general store on one side. The road took me into Carlisle. There were pleasant small farms on the road which gave way to suburbs which gave way to a bustling town. From the town I immediately turned onto the next quiet-looking road which eventually brought be to Lowell. Sometimes it’s annoying when you’re trying to get away from cities but all the roads keep coming back to Rome. From Lowell I took the boring freeway home.

The beauty about the whole trip, however, was how empty my mind was the entire time. It was a rare moment of blissfulness. On an empty road, I had no concerns. Nothing was in my head other than simply enjoying the wind in my face, the bumps in the road, and the sound of that Harley v-twin. The thud of the engine is reminiscent of a heartbeat.

I’m trying so hard to explain the experience, but there’s no way I can ever convey the feeling of time well-spent alone. When I am alone, I don’t need to worry as much. There is no one to hurt me, and no one for me to hurt. I feel more compassion, forgiveness, happiness. It is important to the welfare of the mind, to have peace and quiet and solitude.