‘Lonely Writer:’ Isn’t That An Oxymoron? No, No It’s Not.
It’s actually a pleonasm, which is when you are redundant in speech, and as you see, I find it quite cheeky to have fun at writers’ expense. But, if learning a new word is involved, where is the damage?
Indeed, writing is a solitary profession, and I am guilty of all of its sins, including spending days on end indoors just to fuel my healthy passion for food for thought.
I have always wanted to be like Charles Dickens, I believe it was, who, from what I’m told, did not leave his writing room for something like three months straight when completing a project. However, this is difficult to do in this day and age, so I just suffice with the bits and pieces that I could conquer.
Although writing is a solitary profession, it does not have to be a lonely one, as this is merely a matter of personal choice, location, personality and more.
I do not think that writers are more lonely than other people, but I do think that since we spend so much time documenting our feelings and our experiences, it probably gets talked about a lot more by us writers.
Regardless of who experiences more loneliness than others, I think that loneliness is a common human experience that alights us towards change, soul-searching moods, and lived experiences that are intended to bring our true personalities to the surface. As such, it is a driving force that is simultaneously probing as it is humbling, leaving us all stuck in a weird place sometimes.
So, what do I do to combat loneliness? Well, nothing. I just sit back and wait for time and chance to overtake me like everyone else, which I think is the best way to go. I write.
It is not lost on me that the activity that fuels my solitude, also fuels my desire for connections with people, which is an innate, unending, and unyielding desire. I am also an artist, so throwing myself into my hobbies is the way that I tend to reach out and touch others, as all of my creative efforts are just ways to tell stories with lasting impressions.
Truthfully, this strategy is only affirming my lonely ways though, as for each of these hobbies, I require extended amounts of time to myself to put out my best work.
The truth is, I have always dealt with loneliness by considering it the backpack that holds all of my livelihood, so it is something that I always keep close to me.
I think that loneliness is the iron that sharpens the edge of a person, or more specifically, solitude is. Thus, it is something that helps us toe the line of our beings, and it helps us sort out what it is that we are seeking and needing.
I resist any knee-jerk reactions to get together with people whom I do not fully care about, and I also let myself enjoy the connections that I am deeply drawn to.
I also try to avoid aimless behavior, as running away from this taut sense of awareness is not the key for me, though it may seem like a reachable answer when loneliness calls.
So, as I balance solitude with socializing, I harbor my loneliness like a grudge and I seek out connections that are awarding to my best self, not my lonely self.
I do my daily chores with this rhythm, satisfied that if I continue to seek out complete living, then I would have the experiences that I long for, and the connections that I seek.
Life, bring it on!
