The art of “get along well with yourself”. After 500 days in a cave, Spaniard Beatriz Flamini finally came back from her stay more than 70 meters deep in the rock near Granada in southern Spain. She should soon validate the world record for time spent alone voluntarily, without contact with other humans, without notion of time or exposure to natural light. For his feat, television and media around the world were present, his first words were puzzling.
“In silence, simplicity, alone with myself” she explained, she spent nearly two years that very few individuals could endure. After two months, his sense of time had disappeared, unable to at least follow the cycles of day and night. To pass the time, she will explain having read no less than 70 books, knitting hats and socks. When his adventure began, on November 20, 2021, the whole world was still immersed in the pandemic, there was not yet war in Ukraine, central bank interest rates were at their lowest and ChatGPT was still unknown to the public. General public.
Worthy of a film, the adventure of the athlete resulted in an interruption in his reading, she explained. Dozing, the team responsible for picking her up after 500 days did not allow her to finish one of her books, which gave her the opportunity to tell the journalists once she left: “I didn’t want to go out”. On the other hand, for her, the idea of seeing her relatives, her colleagues and taking a shower also delighted her. Just like knowing “Who buys the beer?”she joked as she came out of her underground hiding place.
Other containment experiments are regularly carried out by scientists and many guinea pigs have already been able to share their experience, such as this testimony at a TEDx conference. Currently, the most popular missions are those in preparation for future trips to Mars. To be able to imagine what a trip of this magnitude would be, one would have to count between one year and 500 days. An experience, therefore, that Beatriz Flamini experienced somewhat, perhaps in even more difficult conditions.
His philosophy particularly helped him. But for others, it would just seem impossible: in the cave, the athlete explained that she had got into the habit of talking to herself, but never aloud. In this environment which was not “his home”, she explained that she wanted to remain consistent between herself, her objective and her environment, and in respect of the place and her own balance. One of his other wishes, just as radical, was not to receive any information from the outside world – even if it involved the loss of a loved one.
“How would you feel if you had a dream and made it happen? Would you walk out crying?” she finally answered, to a journalist who asked her why she was so happy and in good shape when she left. Respect.
