Globalization has brought about interdependence among countries and people making it difficult for one to live alone with little or no interaction with the society. The advanced technology has made life easier, and the world has become a global village since one can talk and relate to another person in any part of the world. However, the freedom to interact comes with its fair share of challenges. For instance, addiction to the internet increasingly complicates any attempts to have a lonely life (Seeman, 448). However, getting off the grid can also be important in one's life. Henry Thoreau’s book, the Walden, explains his experience after spending two years in solitude while exploring nature and what a person needs to survive. The paper discusses whether it is possible to live alone and the challenges that are faced by a person while living alone in today’s world.
Challenges of living in solitude
There are various challenges that one can face if he or she decides to let go of the normal daily life and live a personal life with zero interaction. First, it is vital to be cognizant of the fact that living alone today is more difficult today than it was at the time of Thoreau courtesy of the people’s interdependence catalyzed by the technological developments. Humans are social beings and need each other to survive and to reduce stress and anxiety brought about by the daily activities. There is advanced technology which has enabled us to know what is happening around the world and learn new things. Besides, technology has made it easier for people to run their daily lives by planning their daily schedules on the social platforms. Just like the drug addiction, one can be addicted to the internet and face the addiction withdrawal challenges such as depression. The use of social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp make it quite cumbersome for one to live without visiting the internet because of their rich content.
The second challenge of ‘getting off the grid’ is the increase in insecurity which poses a direct danger to anyone who imagines of living alone, especially in a bush or somewhere far from peoples’ reach. The increased war and terrorism has seen many countries advise its citizens to live as a community and take care of each other making it difficult to live alone in the woods. Living alone would mean that one can easily be harmed by terrorists or violent communities.
Third, the rise of a capitalist society complicates the prospects of having a personal and uninterrupted lifestyle. Today there is increased capitalism where one fends for himself or herself and his or her family respectively implying that there is more than a person needs to do to be self-sufficient and financially stable. A lonely life cannot provide everything for a person, and so one has to interact with other people to make ends meet. Capitalism has also brought about wealth creation and profit making which cannot be achieved when one lives alone as he or she has to be around peoplein order to have a business advantage. According to Seeman,(443) capitalism has created opportunistic beings that take advantage of every situation that happens in our daily lives.
The fourth reason for the tricky in getting off the grid is the interdependence of the worlds’ economy which has brought about many online businesses together. Since the world is eroding the spirit of socialism, going off the grid would be loosely taken to mean a total waste of time. The societal view, therefore, makes it difficult for one to try the solitude lifestyle.
In addition to losing on the economic front, lonely people tend to be behind important news which may affect them in one way or another. The challenge of not being willing to stay ignorant temporarily gives a second thought to those intending to ‘go off the grid.' By distancing from the society, one is left ignorant of all the progress in the community making him or her an enemy of progress.
Finally, the challenge of depression is one that many people are unwilling to take head-on making it difficult to explore the lonely lifestyle. The start of the solitude period can be very depressing as the person is used to companionship from the people in the society (Seeman, 445). Besides, it can be difficult to hide from the advancement of the society and civilization which has made life easier to operate. Education has also contributed to the challenge of seeking a lonely life. The contemporary education system is one that admits students into specific schools which run on strict schedules. The strictness makes it challenging for a school going child or student to disappear from the society or the school itself for a period longer than two weeks. It is even more difficult trying to convince parents of the merits of having a lonely life if the venture affects the education schedule.
Benefits
Despite facing various challenges, going off the grid has benefits of equal measure. First, loneliness helps a person to be more innovative. When one is lonely, he or she has more time to think and meditate hence more ideas are invented. These new ideas help the person to develop new ways of doing things to survive and be self-sufficient. According to Thoreau (70), solitude also helps with financial freedom because a person only acquires the necessities that support life. Solitude eventually reduces the amount of money that a person spends in purchasing the necessities unlike the time when one is living in the society.
In a society that judges a person according to their economic status, financial freedom brings about less stress and anxiety as a person need not worry about how to cater to the needs of the society. It also improves the health of a person as they are away from the busy life of the society which is more demanding. Living alone is very important as it helps one meditate on their life and understand them better and identify their main purpose in life. This meditation will provide guidelines that one needs to follow to achieve any set objectives for the person. Being alone allows one to embrace nature and appreciate the surrounding (Klinenberg,76). A person spends more time with nature and creates a relationship with it hence creates a bond with nature which is very important for survival.
Secondly, living alone can be very easy as the maintenance expenses reduce since one can rely on nature to provide the necessities for each day. Seclusion can help a person escape capitalism and other unethical economic advancements that have eroded the ethics and values of the society. Capitalism has brought about to the pricing of everything even that which we considered alienable to human beings. Capitalism has led to greed in the society with people doing anything to earn a profit leading to reduced stress and anxiety as there are no stressing activities in the world of solitude. It also provides one with more time to search on matters that have more meaning to life than what is highly regarded in life. It helps one bond with nature god and the spirits in the process of trying to understand the world around them. It improves a person's self-esteem as in seclusion a person’s worth is not measured concerning material possessions but by the view of life. The life helps one focus on better things in life rather than technology and progress in the world.
Finally, a solitude life will help people discover more meaning in life and learn to do things in a manner that is conducive to the natural environment. According to Klinenberg (80), loneliness can help students concentrate on their studies and get a better understanding of the concepts. Besides, the state of solitude helps the students reduce internet addiction which is prevalent due to so much time spent on the internet surfing. A reduced internet addiction gives the students more time to study and come up with better projects for their classwork. Besides, reduced addiction to the internet also helps in lowering bad influence from the society and helps a person define their behavior.
Conclusion
Going off the grid has its merits and demerits. Having analyzed the benefits and challenges of seclusion from the society, it is clear that the benefits of solitude outweigh its challenges. However, one ought to have specific objectives of secluding himself or herself lest he or she waste time and suffer from irredeemable effects of depression.
Works Cited
Klinenberg, Eric. Going solo: The extraordinary rise and surprising appeal of living alone. Penguin, 2013.
Seeman, Teresa E. "Social ties and health: The benefits of social integration." Annals of epidemiology 6.5 (1996): 442-451.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden, or Life in the Woods. 1854." Minneola, NY: Dover (1995).
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Yale University Press, 2006.
