|
In February,
2003, I
was quietly working (or possibly dozing lightly) in my office at UBC
when the phone rang. It was a reporter from the university newspaper
asking if I would be willing to talk with her. This surprised me a bit
because until that time there had been no interest from the media
concerning the year I’d lived in solitude in Southern Chile. When, in
March 2002, I emerged from the island where I had lived, there had been
media attention in Chile itself, but since returning to Vancouver,
Canada, nothing.
Now, six months
later,
a reporter was calling to ask for an interview. Sure, why not? After
that first article appeared my phone and email went a bit over the edge
for a while. I tend to live a pretty quiet life even in the city, but
for a while that changed as newspaper, radio, TV, and magazine people
called to invite me to talk about the experience of living alone for a
year. I’m including some of the interviews and stories here because
they give an interesting perspective on the retreat into solitude.
The “Why Not?” is an
interesting question, and now, some months later, it is not so
rhetorical. One reason why not is that interactions with the media
require a great deal of time and energy. But it is fun and interesting
too. I have enjoyed the conversations and the opportunity to share the
experience with others. I also expected it would allow me to let people
know I am available to give slideshow/storytelling presentations about
the journey into solitude. I knew from the beginning it would be a
transient phenomenon – a bubble of experience that would arise, hover
overhead a while, and then drift away to float briefly over another
head. And so it has been. Once again I find myself working quietly (and
sometimes dozing lightly) in my office at UBC.
|