Down the Rabbit Hole

Finding Solitude and Exercising with Word play

"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
Day 2531 April 24, 2025
Prompt: Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves." Write about this quote in you Blog entry today.

The quote makes several bold generalizations, at least in my opinion. First, who's to say that only women need solitude to find themselves again? There could be men that seek solitude to reconnect with their inner self. I know several coworkers who regularly take themselves on solo hunting or fishing trips to get away and reset themselves mentally. Secondly, I think some women could find the true essence of themselves as easily on an isolated mountaintop as they could at a crowded event like Burning Man or some weekend long music festival. The words read a bit dated to me. Today, there are multiple means and venue to achieve self-awareness or to do a mental cleanse that do not involve isolation.

For me, I do not require solitude as much as a particular setting. When I need to reconnect with my truest self, I am either doing that at a keyboard and monitor, writing or I am out in the world, appreciating the beauty in my favorite places. I rarely am alone when I am doing either of those things. How we all mentally reconnect is extremely subjective and individualized.


Blogging Circle of Friends "
Day 3816 April 24th, 2025
Have fun with these words: Manifest, abhor, detour, originality, community, and the drive-in {movie setting)

The town hall feels stuffy and oppressive even in these early evening hours. Natalie shifts uncomfortably in the folding chair, and she feels the exposed skin on her thighs stick to the metal. She hears the impatient rustle of the people behind her, the group with the posterboard signs with messages scrawled in angry red ink that read, "not in our community" and "save our fur babies". Natalie clutches the linen folder to her lap and glances up at the town council members who have begun filing in and taking their seats in the front.

The chairman announces the agenda, and Natalie is dismayed, but not surprised, that she is going after the mob filing the seats behind her. She lets her mind take a brief detour. After a few minutes of council housekeeping, the floor is opened and the "Save our shelter" group spits forth a representative. She is an intimidating figure, tall and broad with a head of unruly, wire gray curls. Her eyes seem to spark when she takes her place at the podium. She launches directly into her speech, not even taking a moment to detour through any introduction or pleasantries.

For the last twenty years, our community has been served by dog pound. That dog pound has admittedly seen better days. The speaker embarks on a long list of citations, violations and failures on the part of the town to provide adequate upkeep. It has fallen into a state of disrepair that the only course of action, according to the Save our Shelter group, is to build a multi-million dollar facility on the grounds of a defunct drive-in movie theater in the center of town. The women proceeds to rattle off all the ways in which a new, state of the art shelter would "improve the life of our community pets". Natalie thinks about her own dogs, who live a cozy and highly cushy lifestyle and would benefit not a single, solitary bit from a 4 million dollar building designed to house stray dogs and cats. She gives the woman points for originality though, because she sees a lot of nodding heads around the room.

The woman finishes her impassioned speech and returns to her seat which her co-organizers cheer and pump their signs up and down in appreciation. Natalie hears her name called. She raises to her feet, deliberately standing through her spine as if to manifest the tallest stature possible. She steps towards the front of the room, clutching her proposal to her chest. The proposal to protect and reforest the old drive-in property as free and open space for the community, that same parcel earmarked for the new animal shelter. Natalie looks at the crowd before her, adorned with t shirts emblazoned with dog paws and wagging dog tongues and wonders if these animal lovers will rip her to pieces when they learn what she has to say.