“Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.”
-Francis Bacon
“All that is mine, delightful and pleasing, will change and vanish.”
-Lord Buddha
If we live long enough we will all come to realize that solitude is what awaits us. All those whom we love will leave, be it by death or displeasure, and we will find ourselves alone. Yet, solitude is not purely the absence of others nor does it have to be a purely negative circumstance. In fact, to the rightly trained and tamable, there is no better set of training conditions according to the Lord Buddha. The caveat is, of course, that we have to be amenable to the training and practice with it.
At present, my wife and children are visiting her sister in New England which leaves me here alone. Truthfully, it is hard to evoke the feeling of solitude surrounded by technology but I do get a taste of it here and there. And,much like cold showers and 6am runs in 30 degree weather, every little bit helps.
May we train in solitude and put every situation to use in our pursuit of the Dhamma.
Cattāri Brahmavihārā 
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