He sat across from me sipping coffee. It felt like we were sitting too close but I didn’t say anything. We were in Starbucks and the fancy leather seats were crammed into a corner.
So were we.
After a load of questions and his reflection he finally admitted it.
“I am so lonely,” he mumbled looking at the ground.
There it is, I thought.
Then, in my mind, I asked myself what is the opposite of loneliness?
If I could figure out the opposite of loneliness, we would have a target to shoot for.
I have been lonely most of my life. I am a lonely person. Partly environmental, partly daddy issues, partly anxiety talking to humans.
I was an only child and played imaginary games with imaginary friends. Some call this mental illness. I call it creativity.
Who do you think is lonelier? Men or women? Extroverts or introverts? Single or married people? Elephants or lions?
I don’t think the opposite of loneliness is to be around people. I don’t think the opposite of loneliness is connection. I can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely.
Loneliness is a feeling. The opposite feeling would be…..what?
We are living in a time where loneliness is killing more people than hippos in Africa, hoodlums in Buckhead, and Mountain Dew in West Virginia.
We live in apartments, work alone in basements, and only talk via Instagram. Go to any restaurant in America and watch the people at the tables. They stare at thier phones instead of the person across from them.
Don’t get me started on Apple watches. I fucking hate Apple watches.
As I tried to process loneliness in my head in order to help this guy, I thought perhaps loneliness is the feeling of not being important to anybody. The feeling of abandonment. The feeling that you don’t matter.
Ew, that sucks.
So, what is the opposite of loneliness?
Trey
Oh, I am not getting the dog.
Whyyyyy??? GeT tHE dOGgiE