The Hermit’s Bookshelf: Finding Solitude, Practising Care
What if your ideal afternoon involved a locked door, a fascinating book and absolutely no human conversation?
And what if, somewhere outside that door, someone quietly needed your help?
October 29 brings together two surprisingly compatible observances: National Hermit Day and the United Nations’ International Day of Care and Support.
One celebrates retreat; the other recognizes the people and systems that sustain us. Between them lies a question worth exploring:
How do we balance being alone with being there for others?
National Hermit Day: Why Celebrate Solitude?
National Hermit Day encourages us to step away from everyday noise and enjoy our own company.
Its popular-calendar history associates October 29 with Saint Colman of Kilmacduagh, an Irish religious figure remembered for his solitary spiritual life.
Hermits traditionally withdraw from society for religious devotion, reflection or personal reasons. Their qualities can include independence, patience, self-discipline and a remarkable ability to entertain themselves without a Wi-Fi connection.
But solitude has two sides. Chosen quiet can offer space for reflection and relaxation; unwanted isolation can leave people without the companionship or support they need.
Research by Nguyen, Ryan and Deci (2018) found that deliberately chosen solitude can help reduce stress and regulate emotions.
The distinction matters:
Enjoying your own company does not mean you must manage everything alone.
Saint Colman and His Extraordinary Bookmarks
Forget magnetic bookmarks, sticky notes and dog-eared pages.
According to Irish folklore, Saint Colman had a rather more unusual reading companion: a fly.
The legend tells us that Colman asked the insect to remain on the exact line of his manuscript whenever he had to interrupt his reading for prayer or other duties. The fly supposedly stayed put, marking his place until he returned. A living bookmark—with wings, no batteries and questionable customer-service hours!
Colman’s legendary animal companions also included a rooster that woke him at dawn and a mouse that helped rouse him for night prayers.
These stories appear in the Tale of Colman Mac Duagh, a folklore account rather than independently verified historical evidence.
Beneath the delightful details lies a fitting message:
Even a solitary life contains relationships, routines and small acts of companionship.
And for a reader, there is something reassuring about a saint whose greatest reading accessory might have flown straight out of a window.
Reading Alone, Understanding Others
A good book can turn solitude into an adventure. Biographies, reflective nonfiction and novels about outsiders allow us to explore lives beyond our own four walls.
Reading may also support well-being. Bibliotherapy—the use of reading to encourage reflection and support mental health—has been explored in community settings.
Literary fiction can invite readers to consider unfamiliar perspectives, although empathy is not an automatic reward for finishing a novel.
So celebrate your inner hermit:
Switch off notifications, settle into your favourite reading corner and let a book keep you company.
Just remember that a bookshelf is a wonderful companion, not a complete replacement for human connection.
International Day of Care and Support: Who Cares for the Carers?
On the same date, the United Nations observes the International Day of Care and Support, established by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/77/317 in 2023.
The day recognizes the essential contribution of paid and unpaid care work and calls for more inclusive, sustainable care systems. Think of nurses, domestic workers, teachers, family caregivers and people supporting older relatives or loved ones with disabilities.
Much of this labour keeps households and communities functioning, yet it often goes undervalued.
Good care involves empathy, patience, reliability, respect and listening. But compassion should not become a polite disguise for endless self-sacrifice. Unequal caregiving responsibilities, inadequate support and exhaustion are real concerns, particularly when care work is treated as an obligation that women must simply absorb.
Care is both a personal responsibility and a collective one. Those who support others deserve support themselves.
What Books Can Teach Us About Care
Books can help us cross the distance between our own experiences and somebody else's. A memoir may reveal the everyday reality of caregiving; a novel may help us understand a misunderstood outsider; reliable nonfiction may challenge assumptions about disability, ageing or emotional well-being.
Shared reading and book clubs can also create opportunities for conversation and connection. Even a simple recommendation—“This book made me think of you”—can open a door that silence has kept closed.
And caregivers need quiet, too. Reading can offer a restorative pause, without pretending to replace practical assistance, social support or professional care when these are needed.
Perhaps that is where our two observances meet: solitude gives us room to listen inwardly, while reading can help us listen more thoughtfully to others.
Your Turn: Read, Reflect, Reach Out
This October 29, choose a book that helps you understand yourself or somebody whose life differs from yours.
Give yourself permission to enjoy a little solitude—and reach out to someone whose caring work deserves recognition.
Because even the most dedicated hermit occasionally needs a helping hand. And even the busiest caregiver deserves a chapter to themselves.
Which book has helped you feel less alone—or understand someone else a little better?
Share your recommendation in the comments, and let’s build a bookshelf where solitude and solidarity have room to coexist.
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