(With permission to reprint from the Desert Exposures Publisher’s Notebook of Richard Coltharp)
Serenity in Solitude
Solo sojourns seeking silent, soulful spaces
“I’m not alone in being alone.” — The Police, Message in a Bottle, 1979
There is a big difference between solitude and loneliness.
Where loneliness can be painful and heartbreaking, solitude can be renewing and
enlightening.
No matter how much of a people person you are, there can be peace and comfort in your alone time.
Southern New Mexico seems created ideally for optimum solitude. The big skies, the majestic peaks, the forests and deserts each have their way of communicating
awe and humility.
You don’t want to have a candlelight dinner alone, or ride a bicycle built for two by
yourself, but have you ever spent time all by yourself in an empty church? There can
be a spiritual healing, regardless of your religious persuasion. If the church is a
300-plus-year-old adobe sanctuary, such as the San Miguel Mission in Socorro,
even better.
Outdoor activities require a measure of caution if you’re going it alone, but the
rewards routinely outweigh any risk. When visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings by
yourself, you can sense a communion with the peoples who inhabited them
so long ago.
One autumn, I hiked a mile or so into White Sounds National Monument and
encountered a cottonwood tree with its leaves changing from green to gold.
Its trunk, and probably half its height, were buried in a white gypsum dune.
As I walked among the top 15-20 feet of this beautiful tree, I realized its leaves were
shading me from a hot afternoon sun. Why not take a nap? So I lay down and enjoyed
the quiet, with the gypsum sucking out all of the stress.
Hiking in the Lincoln National Forest, traipsing across the Sacramento Mountains,
you can receive mixed signals. Particularly in the summer, when the aspens are full,
the wind can blow in such a way the leaves mimic exactly the sound of ocean waves.
It’s a great sensation with or without company, but alone, it feels like the wind and
waves envelop and surround your soul.
Riding a bicycle, whether mountain biking or on the road, can be a cathartic individual
exercise, especially with our diverse scenery.
And while it distances you further from nature’s realm, there’s nothing like a good solo
drive to calm your nerves and give you some think time. My friend and former colleague
Darrell Pehr, who used to commute from Artesia to Alamogordo, and now commutes
from Alamogordo to Las Cruces, often found striking images in rock and mountain
formations, the way many people look for them in the clouds. The Land of
Enchantment, of course, is also great for finding cloud creatures, too.
Our part of the world blessed with small towns and friendly communities, as well as lots
of great “third places.” If your first place of comfort is your home, and your second
place is where you work, third places are where you feel home away from home, those
comfortable spots where “everybody knows your name,” and you’re equally at peace by
yourself or in a group.
Places like COAS Books in Las Cruces, Little Toad Creek Brewery in Silver City, Plateau
Espresso coffee shop in Alamogordo, or any of our local libraries can be great third
places. You may show up alone, but unless you want to, you won’t be by yourself
very long.
Richard Coltharp is publisher of Desert Exposure and the Las Cruces Bulletin.
He can eat a green chile cheeseburger all by himself.
He can be reached at richard@lascrucesbulletin.com.
