All alone

I am rarely lonely, which is a blessing. My life is full, I have a busy schedule, and I have lots of family around. Yet one day last week I found myself feeling a bit lonely and it made me ponder the whole issue of loneliness.

I know that being alone does not always trigger loneliness. Sometimes it seems like a great blessing to be alone, to have peace and quiet for spending time with one's thoughts and for doing whatever one wants. Being alone s not what loneliness is about. In fact, I conversely think its very possible to be sitting in a room full of people and feel very lonely. So I'm not sure what triggered my thought on this particular day. I did happen to be alone, with some family off at the beach (not always where I want to be) and others off doing errands. This might be a perfect time for cleaning the house or catching up on other work, but this day none of that was necessary. I found myself wishing I was with someone.

Of course we make choices that affect where we are and what we're doing, and this was certainly true at the time. But then, we've already determined that loneliness isn't about being alone, is it? So what was behind those feelings of loneliness on this particular day? I didn't have an answer, but I spent a good deal of time pondering the question.

Sometimes there are no simple answers to questions that revolve around our thoughts and feelings. We are complicated  creatures. But I love delving into the "whys" of it all. I think I should have been a psychiatrist.....