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Her Iris lets us see why, in our darkest times, the poles of forced solitude and togetherness can feel so unsatisfying, yet the right kind of aloneness can be the stuff of real healing.

John’s halting efforts to march his ungainliness into a chaotic world mimic those of anyone who grew accustomed to ordered solitude or preferred it in the first place.

Now 38, and happily engaged to tech entrepreneur Michael Polansky, Gaga admits that those years of solitude scared her.

A growing number of skiers, weary of high prices and long lift lines at crowded resorts, are turning to the solitude of backcountry slopes.

Even on the most hectic days inside the boundaries of Mammoth Mountain, the untouched, unnamed slopes nearby offer precious silence and solitude.