/hermit/

Y-yeah, these last couple of years were really so I could focus on "reading and writing".

I feel dead inside.
What does the outside smell like?
>inb4 salty coins and milk

depends on how old you are and if you have kids. if you're in your 20's and do not have such obligations, then there's no reason to go to a retreat unless you live with tons of distractions. social interaction can help a lot when struggling with your writing. as for reading, why would anyone need to hermit himself to read? find a quiet spot and get to work, i say.

...

I sort of unintentionally did this. It was fucking miserable
I actually lost a girlfriend because I was so obsessed with what I was working on that I completely retreated from life into this awful, alcoholic asshole hermit existence. All i wanted after work was to be alone and read and write my things, and then when I stopped working I just spent all day doing that, barely interacting with anybody but the liquor store cashier for months.

I have to say there is a kind of perverse joy in that kind of solitary misery. It feels somehow more real than actual normal life. Everything is so awful that the brief moments of lucidity and beauty in the night alone are very bright in contrast.

There is seriously no reason to isolate yourself though, it is better to put on a mask if you have to.

I'd recommend it if you are getting away from distractions with a particular goal and a fairly clear work regimen in mind. Work with discipline and deprivation, bt for a limited time. I think heading off yo a cabin in Norway to just think is impractical and usually a poor return for time, money, effort. But if you need to get x pages written and you have a sense of what you will write, getting away can be a good thing.

>I have to say there is a kind of perverse joy in that kind of solitary misery

well, i know what i'll be doing

this

do you have anything to say? if you don't, you aren't going to find it by accumulating culture. a voice is not something that comes from someone else's book. plenty of people have read everything and have nothing substantial to add

I like to retreat for a bit but never for the purpose of reading or writing, although after a while I do tend to do them.

Being entirely alone creates a sort of void which can lead to creativity I think.

Especially if you do it without the internet.

No, but always wanted to do something like this. Years ago I had a professor who told me about a Buddhist monastery an hour drive out of town. He would stay there for weekends, sometimes even an entire week.

Great for creativity.

what's some hermit literature you all would recommend? as in lit about hermits or by hermits.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. It has both musings on self-reliance and solitude as well as some practical information that might be useful.

I'm spending the summer at my rich friends house in spain. We are going to drink wine by the pool, look at castles and write. Feels good man.

>normie socialising
>hermit

hermitary.com/

this is a great resource

Great for reading, shit for writing.

Yeah it's called after high school until my first job

19-23. 4 years of social isolation

i recommend it

I've done it for a couple of weeks on a few occasions. It's not as productive as you would think. You learn from other people. If you look at *most* of the greatest geniuses, they placed just as much emphasis on socialization (particularly with their family), as they did on creating their art. It's also best to take breaks and come back with a different state of mind.

My optimal study day would be: 6 hours study; 2 hours of walking/exercising; 2 hours socialization; 2 hours thinking; rest of the day to do whatever