I've been thinking a lot lately about being alone. Thoughts probably triggered by the fact that my husband is deployed and loneliness is a daily struggle. Magnified by the fact that I made the poor decision of sitting (or more accurately crying) through one of my favorite hate-to-love depressing films, P.S. I Love You, today. Loneliness is something the entire human race struggles with, I imagine. I suppose there are a few people out there who would tell you they're too busy, too successful, too popular to ever feel lonely. But I've a sneaking suspicion they're lying. Which leads me to the point that loneliness is often associated with shame. People don't generally like to admit they're lonely, that they're alone, for different reasons, but all with a common thread. Being alone means we've failed. And yet, loneliness is a destiny every human must face, at some point or another. Think about this...we entered the world alone, and we'll all leave the same way. Alone. So why is something so natural, so terrifying?
Are humans destined to be alone? If that's the case, then why are we so inclined to search for a life partner? Why is it that once we've found someone, we achieve a sense of fulfillment, and if we haven't succeeded in doing so, those of us that are single feel like we've failed? Of course this is not a struggle for everyone, I'm sure there are single souls out there who feel completely fulfilled in and of themselves, but was that always the way, or did they struggle to find peace with the loneliness first?
It's a mystery to me why the human race seems to contradict itself so openly. I've always thought that the most frightening aspect of death was the unknown. Maybe, instead, it's the fact that as we were when we were born, we will die alone, and it's the alone part that is most frightening. But since it's something we all struggle with, we can find comfort in that fact: "If we're all alone, then we're all together in that, too." ~P.S. I Love You
