The Art of Being Alone

Parrish argues that loneliness has far more to do with perception than with the amount of company we keep — that it's possible to be painfully lonely in a crowded room and content with very little social contact. Citing the now-famous experiment in which many participants chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than sit alone with their thoughts for fifteen minutes, he explores how making and experiencing art, and other deliberate practices, can reshape our relationship with solitude so it becomes a resource rather than a wound.