Written by: Eshanee Manandhar - 28004, Grade VII
Posted on: 10 March, 2023
After hearing this word, the first thing that comes to mind is being alone, being introverted, having anxiety, etc. Well, this particular word has two meanings. The first is that people often think that loneliness is being introverted and having zero contact with people in life. However, the other meaning is positive: choosing to have a life without much contact with people around. It is the people’s choice whether to have contact with other people or less contact with them.
People can be introverted or be affected by social anxiety, causing them to stay far away from people. However, even those people are not alone because they too have one or two people or friends they are really close with and do not feel uncomfortable or introverted talking to. Those people can never be considered lonely as they have the "One Person" in their lives they could talk to, share things with, show different behaviour which they could not show to other people because of different conditions, or even relate to.
Even if these people feel lonely, it is not because of other people; it is because of themselves or society. Since, if we share or hang out with different people, either rumours get spread about us or we get talked badly about. Or, it is because we are not able to express ourselves to other people in any form. Physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, etc.
By embracing the complexity of loneliness and realising its potential to catalyse personal growth, we can learn to approach this challenging emotion with greater understanding and compassion.
