The Illusion of Loneliness
Have you ever felt the anxiety of being abandoned? Especially by someone who was very important to you? It’s something we all experience, most often during our teenage years but it can happen at any point in our lives. And the reasons are easy to understand. We’ve evolved to be deeply dependent on the love and care and support of our friends and family and partners so it can be extremely uncomfortable to be excluded from the emotional energy that helps us to feel accepted.
The antidote to this deeply unpleasant experience is to be so comfortable with yourself that the absence of others doesn't weigh too heavily on your heart. But you’re probably aware that the feeling of isolation - of feeling separated even when we’re with our nearest and dearest, of being alone even in a crowd - is a growing source of anxiety, unhappiness and even depression.
Loneliness can be a deeply disturbing experience to bear. It’s no accident that disruptive prisoners are often sentenced to long periods of isolation. It’s intended as a deeply scarring punishment. Yet, despite the fact that the planet is home to more than seven billion individuals, we should describe this issue as a psychological condition rather than a reflection of how many people we’re in touch with every day. If you’ve learned to be comfortable with your own company, loneliness becomes an alien concept and your ability to appreciate others without feeling completely dependent on them is a very healthy development in the expression of your deeper consciousness.
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As we learn to create a little distance between our thoughts and feelings and our sense of self, that precious space will lead us to experience a deeper relationship with everyone and everything around us. We’ve always understood at a very deep level of our consciousness that everything is profoundly connected. In a moment of inner peace, the stillness reveals that we are never alone. Loneliness is a construct of our minds. Isolation is an illusion. We can never be cut off from the universe and the life that populates it. Take a deep breath. Smile. Learn to be comfortable with yourself. And loneliness will evaporate like droplets of dew in the morning sunshine.