#MastersofSocialIsolation. 1. Emily Dickinson, who withdrew to her home in Amherst and adopted the life of a recluse or “stationary pilgrim.” She maintained a lively correspondence but had little personal contact beyond her family, saving her energies for observation and poetry.
Conversation
“Some keep the sabbath going to Church—/ I keep it, staying at home—/ With a Bobolink for a Chorister—/ And an Orchard for a Dome./...God preached, a noted Clergyman—/ and the Sermon is never long./ so instead of getting to Heaven, at last—/ I’m going, all along.”
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Her observations of bees, birds, flowers showed a capacity to see the universe in a grain of sand. Such details of natural order were a harbor opening to musings on eternity—for which death was ultimately the gateway. “Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me.”
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“Each life converges to some center/ Expressed or still—/ Exists in every human nature/ A goal—/... Ungained, it may be, by life’s low venture, / But then—/ Eternity enables the endeavoring / Again.” Before dying on 5/14/1886 she wrote: “Little Cousins,—Called back. Emily.”
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Staying home she travelled far.
(During this time of “pause,” quarantine, “stay-at-home,” self-isolation and “social distancing” I plan to share the stories and lessons of those who mastered this art—whether by choice or imposed by circumstances.) Next: Blaise Pascal!