The Loneliness Paradox

In the immortal words of John Lennon and Paul McCartney:

"All the lonely people

Where do they all come from?

All the lonely people

Where do they all belong?"

Loneliness is a recurring theme in my books, and the best thing about being an author is I can connect my characters with each other and soothe their loneliness.

It is not so easy in the real world.

There are many ways to be lonely. After someone you love dies, it is natural to be lonely for them, for their company, for their presence. Just deeply and profoundly lonely for someone who you can no longer see or be with in this life.

There is the loneliness of being in a crowd of people where you are not comfortable. There is the loneliness of actually being alone.

In the book currently in development "Blessed By Discovery", one of the main characters is an artist. He is working on a painting that portrays his and others loneliness. A number of characters in the book are going to identify with the painting when they see it. That is all I will say because I want the story to unfold as it should in the book.

The paradox of loneliness is that loneliness isolates. And makes it harder to reach out to others to connect. When we most need connection, the possibility of rejection is so frightening, it can be crippling. So we sit in a cage of our own making, and find it impossible to open the door and get out.

I believe with all my heart that all of us experience loneliness at one time or another. And most of us would hate to know that someone we care about is lonely and feels unable to reach out.

I would ask this of everyone. Send the email. Send the text. Make the phone call. Check on each other. Strengthen the connections with those you love so that when they feel isolated by loneliness there is no fear involved in reaching out to you.

We are all connected through our shared humanity. Let's weave a tapestry of relationships so rich and beautiful that the threads of that tapestry are always available for the lonely to grab onto and weave themselves back in.