On (Not) Escaping Loneliness
Finding the benefits of loneliness in a very lonely world.
Introduction — Ubiquitous Loneliness
I, often, am lonely.
Not alone. Not physically estranged from the world. Lonely. I think there’s a difference between the two.
I live in a small home with my spouse and three children. Yet, sometimes I sit amongst clanging toys and endless spectacles of joyous, animated television, and I feel hopelessly detached from the vigor around me. Occasionally, I will look at my children or my spouse and simply wonder, “Who are these people?”
I live amongst them every day. We share shelter, food, and moments of unmitigated life. Yet, even in the most connected of experiences, there is a palpable disconnection.
Is loneliness an unavoidable reality of being alive?
Is my meager confession more normal than I presume?
I hope so. Feeling lonely is often made out to be that we are excluded; as if our sense of loneliness disbars us from what seems so great. Something must be wrong with us. Already, I may have cast myself into criticism or pity. I’m banking on the premise that the experience of loneliness is common. However, a cultural stigma pervades; one that is difficult to…
