Solitude is something you refine and develop and create. And again, I think crucially, it has to do with refining our ethical intelligence. It has to do with refining our capacity to see where our impulses are coming from, to what extent those impulses are just driven by conditioning and habit and fear, and to what extent we can somehow open up a nonreactive space within us from which we can respond to the world — respond to our own needs, too, but in a way that’s not driven by familiar habit patterns, which are often rooted in attachment and fear and other things. So solitude, the practice of solitude, is the practice of creating an inward autonomy within ourselves, an inward freedom from the power of these overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

Become aware of your rituals

Which are your rituals? Are you aware of your rituals? Have you lost your rituals? What is a ritual for you?

• Do a review of your "typical day" and see if you find any ritual that you didn't even realize you always do, like drink a glass of water every morning, meditate, look out the window, etc.

• Do a “typical year” review: what holidays do you celebrate each year? What meetings do you organize each year? Christmas, Birthday, Passover, Halloween, Valentine? What do these rituals bring you? Why do they make sense to you? What happens if you don't carry them out?

• Do a review of your "work" process, do you do something special when you start a project? When do you finish it? What do you do when you get an idea? What is the "natural process" of your ideas? When was the last time you felt in sync with the time and the project?