Defining Alone

Summary

The text reflects on the multifaceted nature of solitude, its inevitability, and the personal strategies one might employ to navigate through it, emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and the occasional need for human connection.

Abstract

The author delves into the complexities of being alone, acknowledging that it is an inescapable part of life that can manifest in various forms. Despite its challenges, the writer finds solace and security within themselves, advocating for the benefits of solitude, such as independence and self-sufficiency. However, the text also touches on the profound human desire for companionship and the paradox of feeling alone even when in the company of others. The narrative suggests that while solitude can be a chosen state, it is also a condition that one learns to accept and sometimes even embrace as a partner in life. The author's musings on aloneness encompass its role as a noun, pronoun, adverb, and adjective, illustrating its versatility and impact on one's existence.

Opinions

The author views solitude as an unavoidable experience that can be reasoned with and eventually accepted.
There is a preference for solitary activities, like masturbation, which are seen as reliable and convenient, free from the pressures of disappointing others.
Aloneness is not inherently negative; it can be a source of personal growth and reflection.
The author acknowledges the pain of loneliness within relationships, suggesting that compatibility does not always prevent feelings of isolation.
Despite the comfort in solitude, there is an underlying yearning for connection, which can sometimes border on desperation.
The text conveys a sense of peace and self-acceptance in choosing to be alone over being with unsuitable company.
The author recommends solitude as a means to avoid potential disappointments and preserve self-confidence.
The metaphor of the sea is used to describe the endless and cyclical nature of being alone, with the individual navigating its vastness.
The act of writing and sharing personal experiences is seen as a way to reach out and potentially connect with others, despite the personal and private nature of the content.

It means if you don’t have anyone, take it as a partner

Image Creator

If I had to define what it is to be alone, the symptoms and the result appear always to be different. If it is enough to say you believed yourself to be alone, you probably were. Seemingly, and as hard as one might try, there is almost no way to circumvent or avoid its coming — even if you see it approaching in the distance. But most often, alone can be reasoned with, and it passes.

Someone comes by and makes it pass. If not, take it as a partner. We’ve all known worse.

I am not a joiner unless you’re someone standing at a bar. I’m alone more often than I should be because I try to find security within myself.

Being a man alone, mentally and otherwise, I can detail the advantages of masturbation: not having to dress up, sure not to disappoint anyone, done on my own time at an appointed place; it is, in my humble opinion, a point of view hardly arguable.

Alone, like love, regardless of what the primers say, can be a noun, pronoun, adverb, or adjective — depending on its use and the extent to which it comes, stays, or returns to your life. Darkness and retreat have more than once been my cover. By now, I’ve traveled deep enough into the night that hiking back through any clearing is a journey not taken without some thought.

I plan my nightly outings, awaiting them through the day, and with approaching darkness, work myself into an apathy that a closing battle line could not penetrate. I always try to figure out what I miss by not staying home.

Whatever should have been or is, it is over, never started or never was. Doubtlessly, I’ve avoided disappointments that might have chipped away a little more of my self-confidence.

Choosing the shadows, not having them pick me, is a place I can remain secure, not because I feel plain, but because disappearance is the easier way. I do not advocate being alone but recommend it rather than being with anybody. In the morning, I take myself to the sun alone — always at the ocean’s edge, close enough to retreat from the waves, at ease should the beautiful enemy pass by. The need to merely touch someone I’ve seen or imagined can be so great sometimes that it’s as close to madness as I hope to come.

I have known two minds and bodies seemingly compatible to meet in love yet be so alone together you would swear they’d never met. I believe centuries can seemingly go by before two people meet in some unique way that causes an end to their individual loneliness.

Much of what is written this last year is new. Since I go on being the same man trying to find the answers to some of the same questions. If I must describe them, personal and private come to mind. But those words, too, have been nouns, pronouns, verbs — far more than adjectives.

I set myself under sail, chopping through the seas, passing by, coming by, but the sea is endless, and I’ve been known to meet myself coming around again.

I’ve tried walking straight lines, suitable for little more than proving I’m sober. We come into the world alone, leaving the same way. It’s a good idea to spend the in-between time in closeness, but it’s a long way from the morning to the evening.

These words are personal and private, so why let them go? Why not? There is a slight chance that someone will read, understand, even stop and turn in my direction.

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Thanks for reading.

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