There are so many ways to engage with other people these days and yet people are still lonely, that island in a sea of passing ships.
There are people out there saying they don't need that personal interaction, but many of them are on interaction platforms, why? Because they need contact and no matter how much they say that they don't need the personal interaction, they do. At some point we all do, hell people in relationships that have taken a bad turn gets lonely because the closeness fades.
It's the way we were designed and made. Well different people believe different things, but that is what I believe. I had to put my mom in a home to make sure her medication was regulated as I had to work and sometimes got home late, but I made effort to see her often and spoke on the phone often, doesn't feel like often enough now, she passed away in 2008 and I miss her and my father terribly. Everytime I visited my mom I was faced with a profound sense of grief as to how lonely some of the other elderly people there looked as some of them had not seen their own children in many many years, they were literally just dumped there ad forgotten. It still gets to me today.
Have you ever stopped by a children's home to just give a bit of your time and a warm smile, a hug to a orphaned child and there are many. Have you ever sat and thought about how many lonely people are sitting in front of their TV's at night with no one to share a meal with, no one to share a hug with? I wonder why I think of these things, why do I feel so sad when I think of Robin Williams and much he made me laugh while he felt so sad inside? Take a moment to talk to a military veteran who has lost everything and has been cast side by the very people whose civilized freedom he or she has defended, just take some time and do it.
Maybe I'm cooked in the nut, who knows, but these are things we should think about, I think.
Improvise Adapt & Overcome
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I think most people realize that loneliness is a problem that is hidden away out of sight, and is easily forgotten. Time and circumstance force loneliness onto a person and most are ashamed or embarrassed to admit that they have no friends or family to pass the time with, so they remain in isolation and that makes the problem even worse. Even people who seem perfectly happy and outgoing can be the very ones who enter a place of forgotten isolation when they return home and close the door.
It is a difficult problem to resolve, especially when lonely people are not willing to admit that they are indeed lonely. Loneliness leads directly to depression and a depressed person feels like they are in an emotional hole and cannot get out. Something as simple as inviting a neighbor for tea is an insurmountable undertaking. Friendship needs to be imposed on the lonely; it is seldom ever actually requested. Circumstances have forced them to not "want to be a bother."
A nice, food-for-thought posting, Pete, and one to make us think about something we all conveniently forget.