An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life

A memoir about how solitude can deepen a life.

In his twenties, writer and activist Michael McGregor traveled to the remote Greek island of Patmos to spend two months alone. It was 1985, before cellphones or the internet, when even a phone call home was costly. Those days transformed his understanding of himself, his God, and his purpose--and in this book he offers, for others, how finding a place of solitude can change a life.

McGregor had spent three years writing about the world’s poorest people and five months traveling when he chose, at 27, to live for two months in total solitude, 6,000 miles from home. He went primarily to write a novel, but from the moment he stepped onto the ferry to begin the 11-hour ride to Patmos, he knew his time would be meaningful. As he settled into a routine that included hours of writing each day, walks through fierce wind in the evenings, and nights that brought on dreams, memories, and unexpected spiritual encounters, he soon realized that solitude can be difficult and even dangerous but also awe-inspiring and life-altering.

McGregor immerses the reader in particulars of the simple life he lived for two winter months on an island where he knew no one. He reflects on authors and spiritual teachers before showing the ways in which his returns to solitude in subsequent decades reflected or altered his earlier experiences of being alone.

In the book’s final section, McGregor returns to Patmos during the same January dates he visited four decades earlier. He attempts to replicate his earlier experience. His reflections on the changes in his life, the island world, and his understanding of both God and solitude add another dimension to this multifaceted book.

Michael N. McGregor is an author and former professor of creative writing whose first book, Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax, was a finalist for the Religion Newswriters Association’s Book of the Year. The American Association of University Publishers named Pure Act one of its top ten books in American Studies for libraries and it is now available in over 1,100 libraries around the world. The New York Times Book Review described it as ＂vivid and engaging,＂ and the Oregonian called it ＂deeply satisfying.＂

McGregor has been a guest on NPR’s ＂Talk of the Nation＂ and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s ＂Think Out Loud.＂ He has also recorded podcast segments for Poetry magazine, City Lights Bookstore, Late Night Library, and Urban Roots. During his twenty-five years of university teaching, he received multiple outstanding teacher awards. He lives in Seattle.