Ideas for an essay on loneliness: what does it mean to feel alone? When does it happen and why? Outline, development and conclusion for an essay on loneliness.Referring to your experiences and knowledge, share your thoughts on the topic of loneliness : on what occasions and why can you experience it?Are there any ages in life when loneliness is more present? Is it always linked to some suffering or can it also be a positive experience ?
Theme on loneliness: introduction
It can happen that you are objectively alone when there is no one else around. For example, when everyone has gone out and you are left home alone, or when you take the last train of the day and are alone in the carriage, or when you go to the beach so early in the morning that you find it completely deserted, all to yourself. These are cases of “numerical” solitude , in fact.
The bulk of the experience of solitude , however, is of another kind. It is what we mean when we say that we “ feel lonely .” If I were the only passenger in a subway car, I would not say that I “feel lonely.” Instead, I could be at a party with a hundred people and feel lonely. It is this second kind of solitude that I will write about. What does it mean to feel lonely? When does it happen and why?
Better alone than in bad company
The experience of solitude is mostly linked to suffering . We all know that we can suffer from solitude . But this is not always the case. There are also cases in which solitude is a choice and in which pleasure and well-being prevail. For example, there are those who, even if they live in the city or with their family, need moments of solitude. Indeed, I think we can say that we all need some moments alone, during the day, during the week. In this case, solitude is not a source of suffering, but on the contrary a guarantee of survival.
Solitude can also be a challenge . Some people go on long journeys or hike alone, relying only on themselves and thus testing their resistance, independence and strength. Or, solitude can be an antidote , a cure for pain. A broken relationship, an intolerable family or a great shock can push us to seek it. This is what happened to Christopher McCandless (aka Alex Supertramp), whose story is told in Sean Penn’s film, Into the wild . Oppressed by his family and intolerant of social norms, Christopher decides to leave and travel alone across the United States, all the way to Alaska.
Then there are those who choose to live in an isolated place , in the mountains or in the countryside, in any case as far away as possible from inhabited centers, simply because they love solitude and prefer it to company.
Loneliness and suffering
Very often, however, loneliness is a cause of sadness or anguish . There are some occasions, moments or cases in life in which one typically suffers from it: illness, old age, adolescence , bereavement, separations.
Illness is not always a solitary experience: there are those who go through it surrounded by affection.
Yet, even then, one can feel very alone. Even more so when it is a fatal disease. As De Andrè sings , “ when you die you die alone ”. Among diseases, mental ones can make you feel more lonely than others. Especially because they are more socially stigmatized and therefore can cause shame and many difficulties in relationships with others.
Loneliness is experienced at any age , even as a child. However, there are some moments in life in which it is more present: adolescence and old age. During adolescence, many people experience loneliness, learn to know it and sometimes seek it out. Although it is an age in which friendships and relationships with others are fundamental, it is simultaneously the period in which loneliness is experienced for the first time and most intensely (as I said, the presence of others and feeling alone are not mutually exclusive). The other age in life in which one can feel very lonely is old age , both due to the death or distance of loved ones, and due to the interruption or slackening of most of the activities that keep people intensely busy during adulthood (family, work, projects). Both, probably and as in the case of adolescence, due to a trait specific to that age, which I do not yet know and would not be able to describe.
Adulthood is less typically subject to loneliness, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur. There are many instances in which one can feel lonely, throughout one ‘s life. For example, when one moves to live in another country, in another part of the world. Millions of people move from the place where they were born and raised, to go and live elsewhere, for the most diverse reasons. But I believe that everyone experiences, in different ways and degrees, a form of loneliness, at least at the beginning. Even if in the place where one goes there are people one knows (a relative, a community from one’s home country, a group of friends), leaving one’s own “world” and finding oneself in a new one (in which one often cannot speak one’s own language) can be the cause of a particular type of loneliness .
Another occasion of loneliness is the end of a relationship . When you share your life with someone and then you break up, you can feel terribly alone. Similarly, it can happen when a group you are part of falls apart, or when a project you put a lot of energy and passion into ends.
Finally, recently we have all experienced a new form of loneliness , in the weeks in which we had to stay at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic .
It is likely that those who live alone at home have suffered particularly from the forced isolation to which we were subjected, but I believe that even those who share the house with family, friends or roommates have suffered from it. Both because it was not possible to see other loved ones, and because daily rhythms and habits have changed abruptly, commitments and activities have become sparser or have been suspended, leaving an unprecedented amount of time empty for some. During that time, even those who live in a crowded house have experienced loneliness.
In a poem, Montale talks about the loneliness of those who have lost the companion of their life.
I went down, giving you my arm , at least a million stairs
and now that you are not here there is emptiness at every step.
Even so our long journey was short.
Mine still lasts, and I no longer need
coincidences, reservations,
traps, the scorn of those who believe
that reality is what you see.
I went down millions of stairs giving you my arm
not because with four eyes perhaps you see more.
With you I went down them because I knew that of the two of us
the only true pupils, although so clouded,
were yours .
Theme on loneliness: conclusion
To conclude this gallery of possible solitudes, I would say that learning to know, tolerate and even seek solitude is fundamental in everyone’s life. There is no life in which solitude is not a part . As a result, it is possible and important to recognize the cases in which one feels too alone and to seek and cultivate relationships and communities to deal with them.
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