On Being a Hermit

I’ve written about finding a balance point before – about balancing a normal, healthy life with something as all-consuming as writing is for some. Well, for me. I’ve been to the extreme, isolated and alienated myself, even from the people closest to me, and found it wasn’t the best way to live my life. I love to write, but not enough to sacrifice living, experiencing. When you have great passion for something, I think this is a realistic problem. Look at the mad scientists and artists in history. They all have two things in common (well, three if you count madness – but that’s subjective, isn’t it?): passion, and isolation.

I don’t think the two necessarily go hand in hand, but there’s a definite connection. Passion can lead to obsession, and obsession can lead to isolation, via means of blotting out everything else. The other extreme would perhaps be the writer or artist or other passionate hobbiest who never ‘gets around’ to creating their masterpiece, or even delving into their passion fully. Maybe because they’re blocked, or maybe because they just have too many other things to do. But I’m not here to talk about extremes. I’m contemplating the happy middle ground.

When is it okay to shut out the world? When is it necessary? And how do you know when you’re begin to focused on yourself and pouring too much into that passion at the detriment of those around you?

I don’t pretend to have answers. Quite the contrary, I’m wondering what you all think.

Personally, I try to juggle a lot of things. (As I’m sure most of us do.) And I often find I reach a maximum capacity for the ‘others’ that take me away from my passion. The artist inside gets antsy, and flexes her pinchers, eventually snapping at anyone and anything that is in between me and my writing shell. Sometimes, I just need crawl inside and close the door behind me. Some of my best work comes from being cloistered in my happy writing place, undisturbed.

But life goes on outside. I don’t want to miss it.

How do YOU find a balance?