Focusing on daily solitude for the last month has been fantastic. I wasn’t perfect at it, as I missed 3 days. But still, that is 28 days where I took some intentional time in solitude to reflect and be silent and pray. I have already continued into February and hope to keep this up throughout the year. Ultimately, I want this to be normal part of my life… a habit.
I fell into a pretty good rhythm with about 20-25 minutes a day. I would usually start with just a few moments of silence, sometimes saying a breath prayer for a few minutes to center. I would journal for a little bit and then spend some time reading scripture. At the end I would spend some time in silence and / or prayer. Overall, this was good structure. At the beginning, I had hoped to see a bit more of a varied structure, but I think having a rhythm was somewhat necessary to develop this as a habit. I had also hoped to find some extended time in solitude over the month, but that never happened. As I continue to practice daily solitude, I think I’ll see both of those happen.
This was kind of a no-brainer place for me to start my year of embrace / refrain. I have always valued time in solitude and had just gotten away from it the past couple of years. If you have never developed a consistent habit of solitude, or if like me, you have gotten away from it… I encourage you to take a month and give it a try.