What the hermit is all about.

There is a problem when one learns how to entertain oneself. Namely, one's own company rivals that of others. But this is a great deception.
It has been said that one only begins to see who they are through their interactions with others. I agree with this. Also, I have always harboured the thought that the true lone soul bears a debt to society, which must be repaid either through compassionate thoughts for said society, or through the labour of art or science, and such.
This debt arises from the fact that we all belong to society given that we were born through the union of two people. To deny this debt is to deny one's nature, which is never good.
On the other hand, one cannot be in society all the time. I am often surprised to read about the "guilt" bloggers (part of virtual society) feel for leaving their internet readers even briefly. I think it is most natural to change things up sometimes, to give something a break: this is also a lesson from nature. Fields that are overworked grow barren. (My example here does not refer to bloggers whose business it is to blog, that is another subject altogether.)
A person who talks too much loses content. The first example that comes to mind is Isaac Berlin. What a mind! But he talked it away, busy rising through the ranks of society thanks to his intelligent chatter at dinner parties instead of devoting himself to imparting his knowledge to future generations through writing (I do not think the extant essays are the best he could do). And did Lao Tzu not say something to the effect that: no one has ever regretted saying nothing, but many have regretted saying too much?
Silence is golden.
It's a fact that one will need time to let one's mind out to pasture.
But once that gold is discovered, and that pasture (do you see where I am going with this?) it may seem like a waste of time to "sully oneself" (I write that recalling what an old swami wrote in a book I had by that swami, bound in pink velvet) in cacophonous, greedy society.
Well, I have just exhausted this line of thought, and am unsure where I want to go with this thought. But I think it is linked to what I wrote about yesterday: my wish to achieve cohesion. I think cohesion is achieved through connections with others - the trick being how to connect all these elements in a meaningful, sensible, balanced way.