#henrinouwen

[sowingseedsandshootinghoops]

The Importance of Solitude in a Complicated and Chaotic World

Note on the text: I used Henri Nouwen’s Clowning in Rome: Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer, and Contemplation as published in 2000 by Doubleday

The world is a complicated place and any theology that does not recognize that, much less any theology that attempts to dumb it down into overly simplistic categories isn’t doing us any favors. Which is why I love the way Nouwen talks about the need for solitude in a beautiful, yet complicated and chaotic world. Because he doesn’t mean that we need to run from that crazy world, but that living in that beautifully chaotic world to the best of our abilities means creating a space in our lives for solitude.

Nouwen lived in Rome for many years, and the reflections in this book sprang from the observations he had while living there:

When we look out over the city of Rome, walk in its streets or ride its buses, we quickly realize that it is a crowded city full of [people]. . . . We see men and women moving quickly in all directions, we hear [both] joyful and angry voices mixed with a great variety of street sounds. . . . It is a busy, congested city in which life manifests itself with all its boisterous intensity (35-36).

So he knows how beautifully chaotic life can be and it’s from this vantage point that he writes about solitude

“Solitude is the place where we find our identity” (19). Solitude is something that we all desperately need and not in a way that deliberately separates us from other people. We need each other, we need community. We need to have fulfilling and powerful relationships of all types with each other. And it’s because of that need for enriching and truly authentic relationships that we need solitude.

For Nouwen solitude is simply the space where an individual can discover who he or she is without any outside pressure. This is important because the more that a person is able to really understand and embrace who they are, the more that they will be able to engage in those fulfilling, soul enriching relationships that they are yearning for.

When a person doesn’t have a strong sense of self, it’s easy for them to get sucked into all sorts of toxic relationships and even punch unnecessary holes into otherwise healthy ones, and make otherwise healthy and stable relationships unstable “according to moods, personal attractions, and mutual [incompatibilities]” (14).

Solitude however gives a platform through which we can get to know ourselves better and therefore create more stable relationships with others. Without solitude

we begin to worry about what we think and feel about each other, we quickly become suspicious of each other or irritated with each other, and we begin, often in unconscious ways, to scrutinize each other with a tiring hypersensitivity. Without solitude shallow conflicts easily grow deep and become painful wounds. . . . With solitude we are protected against the harmful effects of mutual suspicions, and our words and actions become more joyful expressions of an already existing trust rather than a subtle way of asking for proof of trustworthiness (15).

When I really know myself and can therefore be more fully myself then I don’t need you to tell me who I am or somehow validate who I am. Which means that we can simply to have a fully authentic relationship where I can both love you as the person that I am and be loved by you as the person that I am. That is how the most incredible and fulfilling relationships of all types are born, and that doesn’t happen if I don’t give myself the space, which, again, is all Nouwen means by the word “solitude”, to really discover and embrace who I am. Which is why it is so vitally important for all of us, in whatever way we can, to create some space in our life for “solitude”. It’s not so that we can run from the world and the people in it, but so that we might be able to embrace the world more fully and in a more authentic way.

[gldnsctn]

#henrinouwen #woundedhealer Thanks Mikey Dwyer! https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNPOQ9Libg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[wcs53]

Yesterday’s prompt for #allthebooksjan23 was First Read of 2023. 📖 This was a fairly short read, but a good one to start the year with. 📖 #allthebooksjan23 #bookstagram #bookaddict #readersofinstagram #igbooks #instabooks #firstreadof2023 #aspiritualityofliving #henrinouwen https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm_jvILLZ_X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[digna2018]

In solitude YOU discover that YOUR life is not a possession to be defended, but a GIFT to be SHARED. #henrinouwen #discover #solitude #life #gift #share #dwowddailyinspo #dwowdfam #bethankful #begrateful #beblessed #takecareofyallselves #coach_dinelle #coachdinelle @coach_dinelle (at Bronx NY , 10473) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmwN1t1L7x1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[hazy-octopus]

[ginacancellaro]

“While realizing that ten years ago I didn’t have the faintest idea that I would end up where I am now, I still like to keep up the illusion that I am in control of my own life. I like to decide what I most need, what I will do next, what I want to accomplish, and how others will think of me. While being so busy running my own life, I become oblivious to the gentle movements of the Spirit of God within me, pointing me in directions quite different from my own.

It requires a lot of inner solitude and silence to become aware of these divine movements. God does not shout, scream, or push. The Spirit of God is soft and gentle like a small voice or a light breeze. It is the Spirit of Love.” ~ Henri Nouwen

[junichikawa]

Ho portato il sorriso sul volto di qualcuno? 😃• Ho detto parole di guarigione? 🤗• Ho lasciato andare la mia rabbia e il mio risentimento? 🙏• Ho perdonato? 🙇🏻‍♀️• Ho amato? 💓• Queste sono le vere domande• #henrinouwen • • Concentriamoci ora che siamo a casa 🏡nelle piccole cose belle✨, con amore💖, con il sorriso 😊e con prevenzione nel rispetto reciproco. 🧘‍♀️Fortunatamente abbiamo tanti modi per restare in contatto con i nostri cari 📲e per sentirci vicini anche se fisicamente lontani. 💻Dimostriamo al mondo quanto siamo bravi a gestire questo momento. 💪🏻Presto festeggeremo l’estate più bella di sempre. 🏖W l’Italia! 🇮🇹 • Grazie a tutti voi medici che state dedicando anima e corpo per salvare più vite possibile. Grazie. 🙏 • • Ph @azzurraprimavera Thx to @vanityfairitalia @marchettisimone @mpunto_comunicazione • #combattiamoilcoronavirus 💪🏻• #siamotuttiuniti 🤝• #iosonoroma• #iosonoitalia • #andràtuttobene❤️ • . . . . . #junichikawa #love #instagood #me #lovepeople #follow #cute #photooftheday #followme #girl #beautiful #stayathome #behealthy #picoftheday #instadaily #amazing #TFLers #fashion #igers #instalike #bestoftheday #instamood (presso Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wVL-johsP/?igshid=x0vydskfy1sc

[anastpaul]

Lenten Thoughts - 8 April - "Praying means ..."

Lenten Thoughts – 8 April – “Praying means …”

Lenten Thoughts – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

“Praying means giving up your false security, no longer looking for arguments that will protect you if you get pushed into a corner and no longer setting our hope on a couple of lighter moments which your life might still offer. To pray, means to stop expecting from God, the same small-mindedness, you discover in yourself. To…

[edenkrahn]

Entering the Dayspring house late one afternoon I came upon Henri drinking coffee and in tears. “What happened?” I asked anxiously.

“Oh, I had a bump today that upset me more than usual,” he answered dejectedly. “This morning, as I always do, I was rushing to get to the Council Meeting, and Dan stopped me and wanted to speak to me. I guess I was preoccupied because I quickly said I couldn’t see him. A few minutes ago he telephoned and gave me a piece of his mind. He was angry and he said that I preached beautiful theories about the Christian life that I never lived up to, and that I, supposedly a man of prayer, was selfish and rude. His remarks caught me off guard. They were hurtful, especially because they were true.” Henri and I talked for a while and later, as he prepared to leave, he said something that stayed with me and consoled me. “I wonder,” he pondered, “if Dan ever considered what I would be life if I wasn’t a man of prayer?”

- “The Only Necessary Thing,” forward by Wendy Wilson Greer

This forward hit me in a deep place of my soul. Haven’t figured out why, but it resonates in a place I have not yet ventured.

[vickyvalderramar]

"Los verdaderos amigos son duraderos porque el verdadero amor es eterno." #lavozinteriordelamor #henrinouwen 😍 #photography @moi.bustamante https://www.instagram.com/p/BrYkgmYAOeP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=b7yxl9ghqudq

[nerdy30trans-blog]

#qotd #henrinouwen https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRQqphAd0P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hpbvsf7h616l

[tabrownwv]

“A waiting person is a patient person” Needed this reminder today! With all the chaos and craziness that it going on in the world, I’m still believing and trusting God’s timing that He will still fulfill his promises in my life!! 🙌 (repost from @singlematters that was in my memories today) #henrinouwen #quote #waiting #patience #trustingod #trustinggodsplan #trustinggodstiming #waitingquotes #patiencequotes #patienceisavirtue #godstiming https://www.instagram.com/p/CTC30W_rOBF/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ktobias98]

[wcs53]

It’s a day late, but day 1 of #allthebooksjan23 is January TBR or Hopeful Reads. 📚 Since moving last July my reading habits have changed a fair bit, so I’m going with these three for starters. The Zentner book is a review copy, the other two are overdue a read and are for fun. 📚 #allthebooksjan23 #januaryhopefulreads #januarytbr #bookaddict #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #igbooks #instabooks #surrender40songsonestory #bono #inthewildlight #jeffzentner #aspiritualityofliving #henrinouwen https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm72TXLLKzE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[adriankhoe]

"Forgiveness changes the way we remember." -Henri Nouwen -- #CreatorForNextGen #Creator4NextGen #TheologiSeru #KristenCerdasIman #QOTD #ReminderToMyself #NoteToMyself #HenriNouwen #Pengampunan (at Kebon Jeruk) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGldzQmhAES/?igshid=1wa3kvfav7iww

[lalihelen]

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. #HenriNouwen #quote #meditation #awareness #joy #happy #sinaia #peles #lifeasanart #life #reflection #beauty (la Castelul Peleş, Sinaia)