Suleika Jaouad: How Can We Transform Loneliness Into Creative Solitude?

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Meditations On Loneliness

As a cancer patient, Suleika Jaouad spent years in and out of hospital rooms, isolated from the outside world. She shares her insights on finding creative solitude during periods of forced isolation.

About Suleika Jaouad

At age 22, Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with leukemia. She began writing the New York Times column and Emmy-wining video series "Life, Interrupted" from the front lines of her hospital bed. Since that time, she has become an advocate for those living with illness or other forms of life-interrupting adversity.

Most recently, she is the creator of "The Isolation Journals," a 30-day creativity project that helps people make sense of living in isolation during a pandemic. Jaouad is also the author of the forthcoming book, Between Two Kingdoms, and as a journalist, she has reported for New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and NPR, among others.

She holds a degree from Princeton University. [Copyright 2020 NPR]