Stillness: Daily Gifts of Solitude

I own a lot of books on solitude. However, this one is a nice overview of the subject. The most helpful parts of the book actually comes in his use of a wide variety of other books and materials. The book liberally quotes from many other books on solitude. It is a good place to start on the subject and branch off into more authors. The author tends to mention yoga and eastern spirituality quite a lot but never beats the reader over the head with it. It comes across as sensible and reasonable and not prone to navel gazing. The only improvement could have come with his journal entries from his 90 days spent in solitude. The journal entries tend to jump around and not add much light to the material. This is not a journal written in solitude but rather an overview of the subject after having digested 90 days in solitude. His advice is to try 30 minutes of silence per day without radio, TV, books, or other outside interference. It definitely deepened my interest in the subject and left me desiring some solitude.

As a clinical social worker, mother, partner and yoga teacher, I think that this book is a sorely needed and necessary antidote to the fast, computer driven culture in which we live. Richard describes his own journey toward solitude with humility and honesty. He outlines the health benefits of stillness as well as unexpected contemplative and creative outcomes of solitude and makes numerous "doable" suggestions as to how to bring more silence into even the busiest life. He cogently makes the point that a life lived from the deepest part of our souls, not only requires but demands stillness. As you read the book, you see that silence is not a luxury, it is a necessity for a thoughtful and conscious life. This is a book I want people I love to read and I am buying several copies to give away as gifts. In addition, I work with people living with cancer and will be sure to make them available to both the staff as well as our client library. Thank you, Richard!