Beautiful video/poem: How to Be Alone

[allisonn]

This really touched me, and I hope it touches you, too :)

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs</a>

[acethespace-bear]

That was really wonderful Thanks for sharing~
I think I'll try going on a solo walk tomorrow, and ENJOY it!

[Cuchculan]

Made for interesting listening. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing. Hope more people get to listen to it. It deserves to be heard.

[tinam7]

The video is interesting and makes some good points. Thank you for it.

Being able to be alone is an important, big topic in my mind. Not being able to be alone can be, I believe, a root cause for a variety of common problems. And these days when most people are almost constantly connected to others with technology, it becomes even more of something to work at and consider.

The first thing that has to happen is, I think, that we must develop a strong sense of self and like that self. We must be able to like our own company, find our own interests, our own pleasures. Then, it seems, the rest can follow, we are free to do anything (or nothing), go anywhere (or not) as we wish, without anyone else.

[Carryon]

Solitude is a more apt characteristic. Alone =/ Lonely

[tinam7]

Maybe we can make a distinction between the two, but either way we are without anyone else, we are solitary. The question is, do we fall apart on our own: feel lonely, unable to function, feel abandoned, feel unloved, unworthy, despondent, anxious, depressed, and worse? Or can we overcome these feelings? Can we reconstruct a strong Self? How?

It is my contention (a belief) that it has to do (at least in part) with a Self that was unable to develop properly for any number of reasons. Also I can add that as I experienced the US (first in high school) I was bewildered by the emphasis on socialization. I've argued this with some people who counter with, "We are meant to socialize, to be with people, to interact, etc." Now with all this social networking I sometimes think this just expands socialization and may well fuel added need for others, anxiety, loneliness, isolation, etc.