More than anything in the world.

When I abruptly moved into the parents' house, 5 years ago, I found that even I had gotten more solitude than I wanted or needed from COVID, but it was really kind of great for a couple of months. I felt a bit guilty about enjoying it, but honestly, I did enjoy it. The transition was abrupt: I went from being alone basically all the time, with just a couple of people in my "pod" as some called it. to being with people all day every day. I went from having no one to please or take care of but myself to having two elderly people with dementia (Mom's was still mild) to supervise. There were times that I wished to be back in my fortress of solitude, to be sure, but it was also deeply fulfilling, and it made me realize how lonely I had become.

@thelonius I think Keanu Reeves talks about the sparkle of hermitism and that it is a hollow soft of safety and insidious in its allure

I was a hermit for four years, sometimes going weeks without speaking (except pleasantries when I shopped). It was hard to give up.

This is how I get my best work done.

Having had a hermit career, working in a remote or solo situation for most of the past 25 years, speaking only for myself here, solitude sucks. I live for collaboration of any kind.

Absolutely, living the dream. If I didn't need a good internet connection for work I would be somewhere even more remote than I am now, down some dirt road with nobody in sight.

I love having both solitude and strong collaboration. Let's meet for an hour or two and then go back to our separate hermitages for the rest of the day.

It beats nearly all of the alternatives.