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Lonely? Join the Club—Understanding Our Shared Isolation
A guide to befriending ourselves in a world that feels increasingly lonely.
In our hyper-connected world, loneliness has emerged as an unusual epidemic. If you’re experiencing loneliness, you’ve got plenty of company. And I’m right there with you.
Even though I’m on Zoom calls regularly and have people in my life most days, along with my aging dog (who’s a swell companion), sometimes loneliness sneaks up on me. It covers me like a hot blanket on a sweltering night. It’s uncomfortable, and I want it off me.
Despite its prevalence in our world, we might not recognize loneliness. We might dismiss it as a passing play of the blues, until that melancholy tune lingers day after day. Worse, we may feel ashamed to admit we’re lonely. After all, if our lives aren’t filled with friends and admirers, it could be a sign that maybe we’re not worthy of love or attention.
And that’s an existential threat. We need people, just like we need air and food and water. The specter of being alone can make our anxiety juices spike because, subconsciously, we know we can’t survive alone for long.
My own journey of navigating loneliness has shown me that there’s a path through. It begins with understanding this fundamental…