by Mark Hart

Created on: January 24, 2009

If loneliness were a mineral, it would be more abundant than quartz. If loneliness were an animal, it would blend anonymously into the heard. And if loneliness were a song, it would be the saddest song ever sung. But what is loneliness? An intense feeling welling up from within? A kind of mournful reflection on life? An emotion that flairs up when we least expect?

For the truly lonely, loneliness is like a faithful but silent companion who never leaves your side yet refuses to speak to you. Loneliness offers no solace, no encouragement and no promise that happiness is just around the corner. It hangs there, like the pungent, pervasive odor of incense, its earthy elements conjuring up images of sorrow too profound for words. Is this the challenge: to put the experience of loneliness into words? No, the challenge is to overcome it.

We may attempt to escape loneliness by joining the crowd, seeking thrills among the revelry of others, but this only intensifies my isolation. Or, I may try reading a book or watching a movie, to help me feel I am not alone, but the characters with which I empathize remain beyond my succor. I am just as powerless to ease their burdens just as they are to ease mine. And when I turn to God, directing my eyes upward toward the starry heavens, my gaze travels silently back to the beginning of time, my senses recording only the vast stillness of the immense, empty, universe. Loneliness is a black hole in space, a singularity, absorbing everything that falls within its grasp yet it emits no light.

There are those who would rather be treated badly than be utterly neglected; better an adversary than a cipher [a nobody]. And we are told that absolute isolation is the worst form of punishment. If humans really are social animals, creatures designed by Nature for relation to the species, then why is there so much loneliness? Have we forgotten the plan? Have we overcome the laws of nature by our own sheer, destructive, willpower? Is such strength really ours?

Perhaps we DO have the ultimate power to become known. Perhaps we can either choose to remain hidden or we can choose to become disclosed. If loneliness is more abundant than quartz, where are the crystals? Why can't we find one another amidst the herd? Dare we join our voices together to create a new song, a song that quenches our parched souls like cool water? Why not shed our armor and embrace!

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