Inter-Planetary part 2*

Acrylic on canvas

“The cure for loneliness is solitude.”

–Marianne Moore

My inspiration for the Inter-Planetary series comes from the increasing complexity of our internal lives. Lives that could be called solitude or loneliness or maybe richness.

As I painted, picking up where I left off, I began listening to Helen Macdonald’s memoir H is for Hawk. While I draw and paint, I interchange between music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

The website The Margianalian first introduced me to H is for Hawk in this article a few years ago. Maria Popova, the genius-polymath-creator, has long been an intellectual, creative, philosophical inspiration to me (more on her later in this project).

As I painted, Macdonald’s voice guided me through the world of birds and grief and landed on a simple quote. Simple in its structure but paradoxical in its meaning.

The quote is from poet Marianne Moore, and it goes like this: “The cure for loneliness is solitude.“

As I painted, I began to explore the meaning of this quote from a wealth of knowledge on loneliness that I accumulated through my teenage years. Always reveling in my solitude, I was at first puzzled by loneliness, and when I am puzzled, I must explore. And my explorations led to discoveries (which I explore in year two of The CognEYEzant Project).

If the paradox of Moore’s quote does not sit well in your mind, try asking yourself what loneliness and solitude mean and explore what you find; it might surprise you.

*Many of the pieces in CognEYEzant:365 are small parts of a larger piece. See it here.

251 days done, 114 to go.