Dear Loneliness,
You can be hard to understand. You can be fully present in a room full of people, and you can create the feeling that I am all alone. I once called you, “the burden we all carry”. Why is this the case? We think that we are the only one experiencing you, and we rationalize that our friends and family do not want to hear about our problems. We have been trained to see you as “bad”. You often generate the conversation of, what is wrong with me? Loneliness, these things may be true about you, but I want to thank you.
I want to thank you for being a reminder of my humanity. Thank you for reminding me that I am created to connect with others. Thank you for the reminder of my capacity for connection. Like many of the people who experience you, you must feel misunderstood?
What I have learned from you is, often we seek your escape through relationships with others. The funny thing is, when we seek relief through the validation of others we find the connection we seek lacking. Why? We often wear our masks that hide our authentic self from those around us.
Thank you for giving me the space to realize the answer to the riddle that is loneliness is within me. You are sneaky that way. You tell me the answer to your riddle is connection. Little did I know, that connection is the connection and understanding I have with myself.
So loneliness, thank you for revealing the following questions to me:
What does it mean for me to be seen?
What does it mean for me to be heard?
How do I define meaningful connection in my life?
Loneliness, here’s to connection and understanding my friend. I’ll see ya down the road.
Your friend,
Nathan
