I see a lot of talk in spiritual communities about how important it is to spend time alone, about how healing it is and how great it is for our Soul. While in many cases that's true, always wanting to be alone can hamper our growth as well. There's moments to be alone, and then there's moments to be together...
I won't beat around the bush, I don't like big cities. From a mental perspective, they're great, the mind can stay very busy in the city. There's all sorts of entertainment, non-stop things to do, and great food to eat. Movies, music, and dancing are never far away, people are everywhere. There's only one thing missing: peace.
To me, visiting a city is like wading through thick psychic mud. All the chaos is people's mind, all their fears & desires, create this kind of discordant psychic noise. It's very draining to be in that energy, and people become very numb, very disconnected from each other. It seems like a contradiction, but you can be surrounded by thousands of people, while also being incredibly alone. There's even a term for it, “urban solitude”.
Having lived in this environment myself, I can understand the desire to want to be alone in your own personal space. Being alone in my room was one of the few opportunities I had to really experience a calm and peaceful environment, with the exception of being out in Nature. Everywhere else in the city was stressful, and the longer I stayed, the more stress built up. I always had to do a deep auric cleansing afterward.
