Paul Tillich, the great American theologian, said: “Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone and it has created the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone.”

That’s elegant. And it rings true. Haven’t we all, at some time in our lives, remarked at the difference between being lonely and being alone? And haven’t we all felt the need to be alone?

One Thursday I was feeling kind of exhausted. It had been a week of list-making, a week of too many things to do, too many loose ends to tie up on too many different projects. Besides that, my back was killing me. But there was so much to do that I couldn’t really slow down enough to rest it and let it heal.

By Thursday afternoon I had had enou…