First of all, I don’t much like the word Lonely.
Or let me rephrase that- I don’t like the way society uses it. Lonely itself is a dignified word with its own poise and grace. But these days, people tend to inflict a ‘them and us’ energy into it. They are ‘lonely’ and that could never happen to us. They tend to associate loneliness with a slight air of failure, of having played your life out badly and having made the wrong decisions.
“She is a batty old lady, probably lonely since she never had children…”
To many, loneliness is seen as a sad or even pathetic state of being, one that must be avoided at all costs.
Now this is important, not just because it is not a very respectful way of seeing the life span of another person, but because it leads to an unrealistic view of Life- the life of those who are lonely, and our willingness to admit to our own loneliness in our own lives.
Or let me rephrase that- I don’t like the way society uses it. Lonely itself is a dignified word with its own poise and grace. But these days, people tend to inflict a ‘them and us’ energy into it. They are ‘lonely’ and that could never happen to us. They tend to associate loneliness with a slight air of failure, of having played your life out badly and having made the wrong decisions.
“She is a batty old lady, probably lonely since she never had children…”
To many, loneliness is seen as a sad or even pathetic state of being, one that must be avoided at all costs.
Now this is important, not just because it is not a very respectful way of seeing the life span of another person, but because it leads to an unrealistic view of Life- the life of those who are lonely, and our willingness to admit to our own loneliness in our own lives.
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