Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash

Everybody’s Lonely, in the Most Connected World

How did we end up here?

Adele Arbi
Published in
3 min readMay 31, 2023

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As a young expat girl in my late twenties, I’m at the peak of my loneliest years.

Especially because after moving countries three times, I have ended up in London, who is always at the top of loneliest cities’ lists, and the capital of a country that has a Minister for Loneliness.

There are just under 9 million people living in London. 9 million souls live in the same city as me. And I am lonely. And almost everyone I meet here says the same thing about themselves. Make it make sense, please.

I also have two computers and one phone with Internet, which give me access to the whole world.

Or at least to the digital population, which on January 2023 was around 5.16 billion people. That’s billion, with a B. And I will still spend tonight without speaking to any of them.

You would say: But you don’t have to, you can reach out to someone to speak or meet.

And I would say: I could, but I don’t have the energy to do so, therefore I probably won’t.

The day has been draining enough that now I don’t have what it takes to have another conversation. And I think this is the real problem, we are tired.

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Adele Arbi
Curious Compass

A curious soul pondering and documenting life. Quran Student, Memoirist, Bibliophile, Explorer. 100% of my Medium earnings go to charity.