A Letter to Loneliness

Dear Loneliness,

You are a mystery, a paradox, and one of the most complex companions I’ve had in life. Sometimes you feel like my worst enemy, a cold wind sweeping through my soul, reminding me of everything I lack. Other times, you are a friend, a place where I can lay down my masks, exhale, and just be.

I have encountered you in many forms. When I have sat in a room full of people but felt utterly invisible. When I have shared my thoughts and feelings, only to realize that no one truly understands. When I have woken up alone in a bed, longing to share the day with my beloved. But I have also found you in the silence after a storm, in the forest where only the trees listen, and in those moments when I have truly met myself.

You are both an emptiness and an opportunity. When I have run from you, you have followed me even closer, like a shadow that cannot be ignored. But when I have stopped and faced you, I have discovered that you are not as frightening as I once thought. You are not always the absence of something; sometimes you are a reminder of what is real - of what remains when everything else has been stripped away.

I now realize that being lonely and being alone are not always the same thing. Loneliness can be a painful reminder of longing - for someone, for something, or perhaps just for a deeper connection to life itself. But being alone is something else entirely. It is a place where I can hear my own thoughts, feel my own feelings, and become my own best friend. You have shown me the difference between the two, and for that, I am deeply grateful.

Loneliness, I also want to be honest with you. There are moments when you feel insurmountable, when you carry a weight that makes me doubt my place in the world. It is not always easy to face you. But perhaps that is where your power lies. You force me to look at myself with honest eyes, to ask the big questions, and to find the courage to answer them.

I now know that you are not my enemy. You are a teacher, though a strict one. You teach me to pause and listen to my own heart. To be okay with silence, with emptiness, with uncertainty. You remind me that I am whole even when I feel broken. And that the deepest connection I can ever have is the one I build with myself.

So, Loneliness, thank you. Thank you for challenging me, for reflecting both my fears and my courage. I invite you to stay, but not as a tyrant - rather as a guest. We can sit together in silence sometimes, and perhaps we can learn something from one another.

With respect and newfound acceptance,

Mike