Humanity maintains a deep-rooted fear of being lonely, and I, being no exception, once experienced an unyielding compulsion to share my inner world with others. Years of being disregarded prompted the belief that I would remain nothing other than a degenerate and continued discrimination drowned me in detrimental thoughts. Life appears as an undying orbit around the notion of finding other people to empathize with and love. Society installs individuals with the conviction that they cannot be alone and content. As I grew older and branched out to unfamiliar faces, I learned an abundance concerning myself, class difference, and managing loneliness. I began to rise above the societal belief that another individual must be present in one’s life
It was the last week of school, and at that point, everyone was free to insult me without any ramifications. The class roared in laughter as I sat there expressionless, paralyzed by shame. Their excessive fulfilment from degrading another human being always seemed more fitting towards the role of an animal to me; but I remained voiceless. Their opinion brewed no rebuttal, as they had successfully persuaded me into believing I was the most deplorable human on Earth. Perhaps I loathed myself with redoubtable passion beyond their shallow comprehension.
Loneliness is quite puzzling in a world facing a crisis of overpopulation, but I am no stranger to seclusion. The battle of constant hatred from peers at my old school was a battle I fought alone. Little did I know, submitting my application to my current school would be the tipping point in my life where I began to experience compassion, acceptance, and freedom. The individuals I have met in my time at Surry Community College have drastically altered my perception of myself and my life. As I continue my journey into life, the pains of my past do not carry into my future. Quite contrarily, they bolster me with knowledge of how cruel the world can be, and how strong I can be to fight against
“Social isolation is one of the most devastating things you can do to a human being: I don’t care how old you are” - Rosalind Wiseman
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being isolated or abandoned. Being lonely is almost always directly connected to relations between people, or the lack there of. Mother Teresa once said “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” In John Steinbecks classic novel, Of Mice And Men, the three characters, Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy struggle with loneliness in different forms because of characteristics that they can’t control. All three characters deal with their loneliness by searching for companionship with others on the ranch and this works out differently for each of them.
The purpose of Philip Slater’s book The Pursuit of Loneliness is to “reach some understanding of the forces which are unraveling our society” for his readers (xxii). It is a common conception that America is the best country, an idea which is substantiated by economic figures. However, Americans are not happy. According to Slater, “all societies frustrate certain human needs and satiate others (because) humanity and any particular society’s idea of what humanity should be is never very exact” (2). In America, the gap between reality and perception is growing farther and farther apart, at human expense. Americans work their entire lives for the future, in the pursuit of economic security, which ultimately leads to continued unhappiness in the present. American culture “struggles more and more violently to maintain itself, (but) is less and less able to hide its fundamental antipathy towards human life and human satisfaction” (122). Slater’s book teaches people about the existence of the “wide gap between the fantasies Americans live by and the realities they live in,” in the hopes that this will inspire people to react in positive ways (xxiii).
Loneliness. So many emotions are evoked from this simple word. What is loneliness? Webster 's dictionary defines loneliness as sadness because one has no friends or company. Thus it is of no surprise that human beings strive to avoid and dread any remote feelings of sadness that might be derived from solitude. After all, the human species is a social being. In this fight against loneliness humans are compelled to increase our social circles by incrementing and or adapting any new forms of socialization possible.
William Cullen Bryant is one of the most influential people of his time. He was born on November 3, 1794. He is most well-known for writing his poem “Thanatopsis”, which would roughly translate from Greek to “a meditation upon death” in English. This poem is by far his most popular poem. He spent majority of his life studying law, then died as the editor of the New York Evening Post. He was extremely politically fueled and also did not agree with the commonly accepted view of heaven and religion; this idea is shown in his poem. Overall, William Cullen Bryant is the most important American romantic poet of his time.
What do people think of when they hear the word solitude? For many, it evokes a negative connotation, but in reality, those same people carry false associations with the word. Solitude is the state of being alone. It is not the same as being lonely, which is the dread of being alone. Despite these erroneous myths of solitude perpetuating many minds, the truth is that everyone can benefit from solitude. Humankind’s greatest inventions were conceived and developed in isolation, and even with this fact, many individuals do not realize what is lost without solitude. William Deresiewicz, author of “The End of Solitude”, reflects on how society no longer appreciates solitude and how technology is responsible for it. Additionally, Susan Cain, author
“Social” networks and loneliness are two very unlike things to be discussed simultaneously... The two are complete opposite of one another: “social” is associated to relating to one’s society, loneliness can be defined as “a complex and unpleasant emotional response to a feeling of isolation” (Ye and Lin 166). While loneliness can mean solitude, it also includes feelings of isolation and disconnection to other people (Ye and Lin 166). John Cacioppo is labeled as the world’s leading expert on loneliness. He proposed a thought provoking analogy: a car can be used to pick up friends, but one chooses to ride alone. Did the car make the person lonely? (Marche 68). Absolutely not. The car is simply a tool in the person’s everyday life. This relates
Loneliness is usually a common and unharmful feeling, however, when a child is isolated his whole life, loneliness can have a much more morbid effect. This theme, prevalent throughout Ron Rash’s short story, The Ascent, is demonstrated through Jared, a young boy who is neglected by his parents. In the story, Jared escapes his miserable home life to a plane wreck he discovers while roaming the wilderness. Through the use of detached imagery and the emotional characterization of Jared as self-isolating, Rash argues that escaping too far from reality can be very harmful to the stability of one’s emotional being.
In life people are be alone by choice, no matter if it was flat out what the wanted or alone due to some kind of forced circumstance that grew out of a previous choice they made, but when it comes down to it loneliness is never truly desired. In the short stories A Painful Case and Eveline we see examples of each type of loneliness. In A Painful Case Mr. Duffy for the most part of his life chooses to be alone. In Eveline, Eveline seems to be lonely because she’s unable to leave her duties to her family. In both stories the main characters display their desire to have someone near but when they’re finally given the chance it’s inevitably taken away from them, and then they’re driven back into the entrapment of loneliness.
There has been a considerable amount of inquiry which has associated loneliness to depression, low self-esteem, and physical illness (Hawley & Cacioppo, 2007; Sorkin, Rook, & Lu, 2002). Loneliness can also be detrimental to health as well as overall well-being later in life due to recent evidence implying that it accelerates physiological deterioration and advancement of chronic diseases in the elderly (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2007).
Award-Winning author Laura Hillenbrand writes of the invigorating survival story of Louie Zamperini in her best selling book, Unbroken. Louie Zamperini was an ambitious, record-breaking Olympic runner when he was drafted into the American army as an airman during World War II. On the mission that led him to embark on a journey of dire straits, Louie’s plain crashed into the Pacific Ocean, leaving only him and two other crewmen as survivors. Stranded on a raft in shark infested waters, without any resources or food, and drifting toward enemy Japanese territory, the men now have to face their ultimate capture by Japanese, if they survive that long. Louie responded to his desperation with dexterity, undergoing his plight with optimism and confidence, rather than losing hope. In this memorable novel, Hillenbrand uses a vivid narrative voice to divulge Louie’s tale of endurance, and proves that the resilience of the human mind can triumph through adversity.
Do you ever feel trapped when you are in a place that you have never been before? Isolation criticizes society since it does not let everyone be equal or have the same rights. Isolation can completely change a person, and it is usually for the worst. Society “acts” like they try to prevent isolation, but in reality they isolate people for certain reasons, then those people get judged for being “different.” Upon closer inspection it is human nature to deny equal rights because people that do not act, dress, or look the same are labeled as strange, and unfortunately, many times are not accepted by the majority of society. This gives authors a way to shine a light on society’s flaws.
...e or friendship. We are taught that we don't have an identity if we are alone. Which is why we treat loneliness as a disease, one to be avoided at any cost. Loneliness is viewed as an inadequacy of our personalities. Though all of us are taught to be independent, our independence is superficial. We can cook, clean, and do our laundry but we can't seem to take care of our emotions independently. We are taught that we need to share all our emotions. And I believe that however hard we search we can never get the kind of understanding that we are looking for. We are taught to be uncomfortable in our own world. Society conditions us to believe that we are inadequately equipped to be alone and content. And that alone always means lonely.
In Ellen Goodman article, “Friendless in North America” the author writes about the multiple effects of social isolation. She explained that studies done from 1885 to 2004 turned up some overwhelming news. The studies done were face to face and there were about 1,467 adults. Goodman writes that one-fourth of the people have nobody to talk to about important matters and another reported articulates people are one person less from nobody. From then to now the number of people who have nobody to talk to has doubled. The study is to show how people social isolation effects. Three effects of social isolation are eroding friendships, loneliness, and depression that can cause to death.
Loneliness is something that a lot of people fear. It can be a feeling that nobody is there, as if you are alone in the world with nothing but your thoughts. The silence and the boredom can get to people, but for me, I'm fueled by it. When I am alone I can focus, I can get things done and find true peace. The anxiety and stress of life slips away when I'm left with nothing to do and no one to talk to. When I am left to myself my body and mind is able to recharge from the tasks that have recently drained me. I am able to rest and calm down, knowing that there is no one around me. There are a lot of people out there who find this odd, that the way they see it is that being by yourself at home is boring a waste of time if you can be out and do things. Well, that's probably because they are an extrovert, and I'm an introvert. Being an introvert is commonly confused with disliking being out with friends and doing exciting things with others, but that's totally wrong. I enjoy my times with others and I got out with my friends all the time, but there is a point, and certain times when I need to be by