How do I feel about loneliness? I don’t like it!
The pandemic brought this feeling to me. Prior I had never experienced loneliness in my entire life. I have spent much time alone and have enjoyed my solitude. Alone is often exactly how I prefer to be. When the norm is being around people, being alone with myself brings great appreciation for the sweetness of me-time. It provides me with a deeper connection to internal space. However, this compulsory aloneness is something very different.
I am a social butterfly forced into a cocoon. The enforced alone time began to feel like loneliness. That loneliness made me very sad and disconnected from my usual happy place. And yet, I've come to be grateful for experiencing this feeling because it helps me understand what others have felt routinely perhaps for years. It gives me empathy for what others have endured and empathy is one of the most important things that we Human Beings can possess. In fact, I believe that greater empathy is one of the potential gifts of these interesting times in which we are currently living. I am grateful to know that even though I feel lonely I truly am not alone. I have a wealth of people who love and care about me. I've lived through this time where isolation was force-fed. Yet, Ms. Social Francesca always found ways of communicating with people. In the early days of the pandemic when I went out to get gas, I talked to the person pumping gas next to me. I found others so excited to engage. When I was in the grocery store people were eager to speak and talk to each other. It has opened me in ways that I never realized greater opening was available. I speak to strangers, converse with strangers from around the globe. We laugh and speak of a Higher power. We learn from each other and teach each other. My heart has expanded for others as well as for myself.
I’m grateful because I bring a bit of Light into the lives of others as they are bringing Light into mine. I don’t want to live in loneliness but I am very grateful to have had a deeper understanding of it.
ความคิดเห็น