• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Explore Chicago
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The Local Tourist

Experience the fascination of a tourist; Feel the comfort of the local

  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Sparkling Isolation – Day 4

March 21, 2020 //  by Tommy Hensel//  Leave a Comment

19shares

I feel like a yo-yo.

Up, down, up, down, up, down. I think it’s natural during this time of uncertainty for all of us to feel that way. One moment fine, another spiraling into despair. One moment calm, another angry. Focused then frightened.

That has been my day today.

On a normal Saturday with no plans, I would sleep in late and then make coffee and chill out with a little checking of email and then probably reading a good book. I woke up surprisingly early today, unable to sleep because my mind was in overdrive. I did manage to make coffee and have a ‘normal’ kind of morning. I realized that I had forgotten to pick up my dry cleaning, so I did that and felt like I have experienced a glimmer of a normal day, finally.

Once back home, however, I found myself sitting here staring at the wall thinking, “OK. Now what?” I mean, I can only clean out a closet or wipe down a counter or plump the pillows on my couch so many times before it becomes redundant and useless.

Netflix works for a while, but eventually that becomes boring and pointless to me as well.

I connected with several friends via phone today – more than I have ever called in a single day in years. That was an upside today. I realized, after my sad day yesterday, that the problem yesterday was that I had isolated and didn’t reach out for contact. Today I made an effort to text, message, and/or call nearly a dozen people. This focus on outreach is helping me navigate this weird reality.

One friend commented to me that she was surprised at my angst about being alone. She pointed out my years of practicing Vipassana meditation. If you are not familiar with Vipassana, the trainings are generally about 12 days each. During that time, for about 10 full days, you are totally silent. You surrender your cell phone and bring no reading or writing material. For those ten days, you spend nearly ten hours a day in meditation in total silence, not making eye contact or speaking or touching any other person. It’s intense and life-changing and it does teach you about being alone with your own thoughts.

The trick there, however, is that even though you are silent and making no contact with others – they are still physically present. You may not be communicating, but the physical presence of other people is always there. That’s the difference between Vipassana and what I am now terming “sparkling isolation.” Here, I have no other human presence in my physical environment.

My friend also knows that I am essentially an introvert, so it should be easier for me, right?

Wrong again.

If you have ever taken the (in)famous Meyers Briggs personality inventory you will get this. I always score either INFP or ENFP. That “NFP” has never changed in nearly forty years of my taking that test. What does shift is the I/E parameter. That measures how much you are either Introvert or Extrovert. For me, I score right smack dab in the middle. I tend to think of myself as an Extroverted Introvert.

I love being alone. I relish that time alone. I am never happier than when curled up alone with a good book on my couch and can dive into the world of my imagination. That energy also makes the Vipassana technique so powerful for me.

On the other hand, I am equally at home on stage in front of 2000 people. I love to teach, to lecture. I love meeting people and networking and being a social creature – as long as I know that I can then be alone when I need to be. I suppose it’s all about balance.

So right now, the world has created a situation that feeds perfectly into the introverted side of my character, but totally squashes the extrovert. No balance.

So today, I have been like a human yo-yo going up and down and up and down emotionally because of this imbalance. As we move into what appears to be a protracted siege of this situation, I am going to have to focus on how to find that extrovert energy in the midst of isolation.

So today, my sparkling isolation was a bit shinier than yesterday. It’s a matter of staying focused and taking things one day – one moment – at a time. That’s what mindfulness is all about – paying attention to the ‘now’ and not living in the past or future. That’s my goal for this experience – to truly dive into my mindfulness practices and learn/re-learn how to be comfortable with whatever the Universe chooses to throw in my direction.

19shares

Category: ThoughtsTag: Sparkling Isolation

About Tommy Hensel

Tommy Hensel is the Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Moraine Valley Community College (www.morainevalley.edu/fpac), a position he has held since January 2008. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he has worked for more than 35 years as a professional actor, singer, stage manager, director, and arts presenter. He holds a B.A. in music and a B.A. in communication from Florida State University and an M.A. in theater from the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as Chair of the Illinois Presenters Network and is a board member of NAPAMA. He served as co-chair of the 2018 Arts Midwest Conference and currently sits on the professional development committees of both NAPAMA and Arts Midwest.

Prior to his move to Chicago, Tommy was an 11-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire where he served as Executive Director of the Rochester Opera House and sat on several non-profit arts boards. He has served on grant review panels for the New England Foundation for the Arts, New Hampshire Arts Council, Vermont Arts Council, and Illinois Arts Council. During his years as an arts presenter, he has also served on the juried showcase panels for the Arts Midwest Conference and Performing Arts Exchange.

Among his many theater credits, Hensel was the founding artistic director of the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival (now part of the Gamut Theatre Group in PA). He has over 50 professional directing credits to his name and an extensive resumé as a theatrical performer and cabaret singer. In Chicago, he has a side "gig" as a restaurant reviewer for The Local Tourist website (http://chicago.thelocaltourist.com) and blogs about travel and food at https://www.tableforoneplease.com.

Related Stories

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 248

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 151 through 247

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 144 through 150

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 136 through 143

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 135

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 134

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 133

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 132

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 131

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 130

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 129

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 128

Previous Post: « Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Chapter 7 – Half a Billion Years in the Making
Next Post: Diary of a Cockeyed Optimist: It’s OK to feel OK Buds on tree with a blue sky in the background»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Your Cart

  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Site Footer

Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Privacy Policy

© 2021 · The Local Tourist · Experience the fascination of a tourist; feel the comfort of the local