Letters to Myself: Entry Thirty
Prompt: Why does solitude make us grow?
Growth has a strange way of sneaking up on us, especially when it happens quietly, in the lonely corners of our lives. This reflection explores how isolation can become a catalyst for self-education, emotional maturity, and inner strength. And why stepping back into the world afterward matters just as much. If you’ve ever grown through a season of solitude, this one is for you.
This reflection is hitting me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s making me pause and actually look back at all the quiet changes I’ve made this year. For so long, I kept saying I wanted to self-educate, to take in more, to understand more, and this year, I finally followed through. I started reading again. I started listening. I let books and ideas fill the space where music used to carry me. Music helped me survive so many seasons of my life, and it still does in smaller waves, but something shifted. My mind wanted knowledge; my spirit wanted depth.
And, honestly, that shift came from loneliness.
There was a stretch of time where I felt genuinely scared of how alone I was becoming. Not socially, but spiritually. Mentally. I didn’t know where to go next. I didn’t know how to rebuild. But somewhere in that fear, I found the courage to start refining myself. My parents always taught me to stay grounded in moments of crisis, to steady myself before I ever push my problems onto anyone else. And that lesson stuck. This year, I grew through solitude. I went on long walks. I drove around just to think. I listened to audiobooks until the ideas started reshaping the outline of who I wanted to be.
And slowly, I realized:
Learning in loneliness can be one of the most powerful transformations we ever go through.
It gave me wisdom. Patience. A new kind of calm. A new standard for myself.
And I refused to let anyone, especially those who might root against me, take that from me. Jealousy thrives where growth is absent. And growth? Growth should be encouraged. For everyone.
I want people to succeed, even the people who don’t like me. Especially them. Love means wanting success for your people, and humanity means wanting it for everyone else too. That matters even more in a time where communities are stressed, where individuals are stretched thin, where surviving feels like a job and grinding is the cost of entry. We carry so many people inside our webs including family, friends, colleagues, strangers, and growth is one of the ways we honor them.
But here’s the thing no one says out loud:
Growth also requires leaving isolation.
A lot of us became comfortable with solitude after COVID. It amplified isolation. It made the world feel smaller. Even now, people are staying home more, interacting less, retreating into digital versions of life. And while there’s nothing wrong with quiet seasons, there is something dangerous about staying there forever.
We’re watching the entertainment industry change in real time, maybe even heading toward the end of movie theaters as we know them. And that scares me, because theaters are one of the last sacred places of communal experience. Shared art. Shared feeling. Shared humanity. That is what isolation takes from us if we’re not careful.
Growth through solitude is necessary, but it’s not the whole journey. You have to eventually step out and test yourself again. Speak to people. Learn from them. Share your knowledge. Listen to theirs.
Wisdom locked away in your room is just stored potential. And growth without connection becomes stagnation.
Isolating is convenient. Sheltering is easy. But ease is almost always temporary. And if we never step out, we don’t learn how to talk to people, understand perspective, embrace culture, or see life outside our tiny comfort zones. There are places in the world where technology barely exists, and yet people thrive on community. That’s humbling and grounding.
And it’s a reminder:
Solitude builds us. But the world shapes us.
So yes, grow in isolation. Learn. Read. Take those quiet walks. Let your mind expand.
But then you have to go live. You have to test what you’ve learned. You have to meet people, struggle through awkward conversations, laugh with strangers, explore the world and let those experiences pull you into the next version of yourself.
Growth begins at home.
But life, real life, grows you everywhere else.
This post is part of my "Letters to Myself" series — a weekly free-write blog where I explore personal growth, curiosity, and healing through simple prompts. Sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, but always real. Thank you for being here.
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Photo by Kyle Gare
