Silence and loneliness - that's all we need to feel how desireless our souls are. I mean a state of mind when there is no desire, no urge, no need. Only pure existentialism occupies the mind at such a moment. In my opinion, this strange state might be helpful for us to find or invent a new wish or a life goal, if only we were not surrounded by the great noise of daily work, duties and communications. These things distract us from listening to our emptiness. Usually, only a sudden crisis is able to break down the cycle of daily routine and gives us a chance to immerse ourselves thanks to solitude and communicative quietness. Even more, it is vital to leave our smartphones and laptops somewhere for the period of the isolation. Otherwise, we will continue wasting time with the digital "noise" in our thoughts.

This method of self-analysis is not my invention, of course. I've heard of this approach from one clever writer, when he was answering a reader's question. The question was "how to find out what I want to do in my life?". The answer was to do nothing until you have felt a desire to do something specific. There is only one big challenge: it is really difficult to do nothing. I assume most of us have lost this ability or never had it.I have my own recipe for switching off the external noise.

I achieve it by hiking alone in the mountains. It is the physical activity that frees your mind for perception of silence and listening to yourself. However, this approach is not easy and time consuming, it works for me somehow. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to read your solutions in this existential matter.