“Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?”

AKA: The Importance and Value of Solitude

The wonderful writer and poet Raymond Carver once titled a book of his “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?” which I always thought was such a great title.

It feels especially so now, with everything happening in our world. The loudness, the shouting, the yelling — divisiveness — anger and sadness — opposite sides of the same coin. As much of a “social butterfly” that I can be, it’s also always been equally important to me to have a certain amount of time to myself — to be alone — just me — to think and…