The Solitude of the Soul: Reflections from the Schuylkill River

What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante, currently standing on top of the cliff here, looking out towards the Schuylkill River. I believe this to be the most beautiful spot in the city of Philadelphia.

Walking the Outskirts: A Search for Solitude

As I walk along the outskirts of the city, I’m thinking about solitude and why I thrive in it. This is something I’ve been reflecting on a lot recently because, essentially, for the past two years, I’ve embraced isolation—purposely stepping back from the noise and chaos to focus on my own creative process. Photographing in black and white, thinking, reading, writing, making videos—doing my own thing. And I’ve realized that this is where I genuinely feel best.

“Maybe, while we are social creatures, we also perhaps align our souls, our bodies best when in our own space.”

The Chaos of City Life

While I enjoy the chaos as a street photographer, there’s a certain drain that comes with the city. It’s not just the noise—it’s the energy that gets sucked out of you when surrounded by a constant hum of human life. The noise, the homelessness, the drug addicts—it’s as if the city is in a constant state of turmoil.

“You step outside your home and you go for a brief walk, and you’re already being bombarded with people screaming, people peeing on the ground.”

It’s astonishing, really, what I witness on these walks. Just the other day, right in the heart of Center City, near the towering Comcast buildings, I saw a man casually relieving himself at a bus stop. Right there on the sidewalk, with a stream running down the pavement. And right next to him, a woman waiting for her bus, sitting there like this is all just part of the daily routine. It’s moments like this that make me question what’s happening in our society.

Detachment and Disrespect: The Nature of Urban Life

This behavior, this lack of care for the city, makes me wonder if it’s rooted in our disconnection from the land. In the city, most people don’t own the space they live in. They rent. They commute. They come to work in an office and then leave. Few have any real connection to the city itself.

“It seems like when you live in a city, most people rent, some people own condos, some people have businesses in their neighborhoods. But genuinely, most people are sort of coming into the city to work in an office, then they go home.”

The Consequences of Detachment

Lack of Ownership: With little to no ownership of the space, there’s a lack of responsibility. People treat the city like a temporary stop, not a place to invest their care and attention.
Neglect of Public Spaces: This detachment leads to neglect, like a public restroom that nobody bothers to clean.
Disrespect for Community: Without a sense of belonging, there’s little respect for those sharing the space, resulting in behaviors that would be unthinkable in more closely-knit communities.

A Contrast in Values: Village Life in Zambia

I often draw on my time as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, living in Zambia. The experience shaped my perspective in a profound way. In the village, there’s a different hierarchy, one that places God, tribe, and land above the individual. This hierarchy instills a sense of communal responsibility that’s missing in urban life.

“When you live in a village, you have this hierarchy between God, tribe, and land. The individual within the community feels as though they share this common space, this common village, and have ownership over it.”

The Power of Shared Values

In the village, there’s a collective effort to keep the community clean, to support each other, and to hold each other accountable. If someone acts out or disrespects the space, the community responds—sometimes with harsh measures, but always with a sense of purpose.

“If somebody does something wrong, they usually scold that person. They’ll probably have some sort of disciplinary action that they take, which is usually actually physical force.”

Now, I’m not saying we should adopt these same methods in the city. But there’s a lesson in how a sense of shared ownership can shape behavior and create a space where people strive to be the best versions of themselves.

The Inevitable Tyranny of Order

This brings me to a larger realization: tyranny, in some form, seems inevitable. In the village, it takes the form of social enforcement, a direct and sometimes brutal way of maintaining order. In the city, it’s the chaos itself that becomes a kind of tyranny—a tyranny of disorder, where the lack of structure drains the spirit.

“Maybe that’s where I draw this conclusion, that tyranny is inevitable in any human society.”

Freedom vs. Order: Finding the Balance

In the Village: Order is maintained through communal discipline, shared values, and a sense of belonging.
In the City: The absence of those bonds leads to a different kind of struggle—one against the constant barrage of noise, detachment, and disrespect.

Finding a balance between these extremes is where I’ve found my sense of peace. Solitude gives me space to think, to create, and to find my center in a world that often feels out of control. It’s not about rejecting society, but about choosing when to engage and when to withdraw.

Embracing Solitude and Creativity

Here, in the quiet moments by the Schuylkill River, I find a deeper connection with myself and with the world. It’s where my creativity flows, and where I can reflect on these contrasts between city and village, freedom and discipline, chaos and order.

“Living in the city may drain me, but these solitary moments recharge me.”

Solitude is where I align my mind, body, and soul—where I find my truth amidst the noise. And maybe, in this balance between solitude and chaos, between freedom and order, we can find a way to thrive in a world that’s always on the edge of breaking apart.

As I continue walking along the river, capturing the contrasts in light and shadow through my lens, these thoughts stay with me. They shape my understanding of not just the city or the village, but of the nature of the human spirit itself—always searching, always struggling, always finding moments of clarity amidst the noise.