evidence: A quote from Beat poet Gary Snyder: "There are two things that are really educational. One is being with a bunch of really smart people. The other is being all by yourself." [...] . . . in solitude we sit with ourselves, moving out of the social spotlight and into a mode where we can pay close attention to our internal energy and insights. It’s a time when our main focus is on getting centered and in sync with ourselves, not in keeping up with the chaos of the world. When I fail to set time aside for it, I start to stress out. I can relate to writer Henry David Thoreau, whom Emma Goldman called "the greatest American anarchist," when he says, "I have an immense appetite for solitude, like an infant for sleep, and if I don’t get enough for this year, I shall cry all the next." Solitude is so much the norm for me that, rather unmindfully, I almost forgot to include it in this essay as a practice to maintain. And as Thoreau asserted, "I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude."