With the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in full swing, it’s been a noisy week here in the Black Hills, and all the extra people moving about has traffic at a road rage inducing level for even the most mild-mannered motorists. Not to name names, but me for one.

I have nothing against folks cut from a common cloth getting together and enjoying the comradery of their commonalities, but when that common cloth stretches and lies heavy over such a large area it’s bound to be a source of irritation for those just trying to go about their day in the place they live and work.

Most of those that roll in this week are good people out to have a good time, but there’s always a few turds floating around that like to smear their stink everywhere they go. So it goes.

When you live in a scenic area, people will come, I’ve accepted that, and I’m happy to share the Black Hills and Badlands. I hope some that come en masse during Rally Week have the opportunity to come back for a visit when the mass isn’t as massive, and get to experience the scenic with a thick slathering of solitude on top. That’s the Black Hills and Badlands at their best.

I used to roll out to our cabin in Montana when Rally Week rolled in, let the motorcycles have the run of the Black Hills for a few days, but since the cabin was reduced to ashes a few years back, I don’t have that option available to me anymore. Oh well, this shall pass, and as usual, stacks of half-priced t-shirts will be left in its wake.

In the midst of the steady rumble that has been in the air this week, an article rolled into my inbox that proclaimed, “New Study Confirms the Value of Solitude”. As often seems to happen when I read about such studies, the words “no crap” spilled out. Except I pronounced crap different, just as my Mom taught me.

Isn’t it nice to have researchers confirm things we already know? Just when I was about to abandon all pursuits of solitude as a valueless waste of time, these researchers come forth with a message of hope for solitude and all who seek it. Thank you for saving me from turning my back on solitude in pursuit of hustle, and perhaps bustle, and for stopping me from yelling “VROOM…VROOM” as I peddle my bicycle through the woods.

The thought that solitude is good for us human types is not a recent discovery. In his book, Reveries of the Solitude Walker, the 17th century philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote, “we must embrace nature, seek solitude, and let both our feet and our minds wander.”

No, it’s not a recent discovery, but it’s worth may have become more evident in our thoughts now that we have so much more “stuff” cluttering those thoughts than old Jean-Jacques could have ever dreamed of. Or any of us “elders” could have dreamed of as we adjusted the rabbit-ears and turned a knob between both channels on our televisions not so many moons ago.

I don’t prescribe much to my students, no one listens to old people anyway, but I do tell them to unplug and move. Move with nothing but their thoughts. Move without input from the magic rectangles of distraction that have robbed them of hearing themselves clearer and engaging with life deeper.

The magic of solitude and being present with the present. Research claims it’s good for you? Google it.