On Loneliness

March 16th, 2024 (7 months ago) • 2 minutes

Back after a travel hiatus! Just experiencing the world and rest I had long wished for.

UO Shin restaurant at Millerz Square

I’m writing this as I’m waiting for my turn at UO Shin for dinner. It’s a rainy day so I’m craving for some good hot japanese food.

The ambience here is nice. Warm lights, sounds of metal clanking from chefs cooking in the public, people chatting, phone ringing - just the usual hustle and bustle of a busy restaurants.

I came across a paragraph talking about loneliness and how the meaning actually differs from what we know and what we experience in real life.

You see, in a known place, with a lot of people, I sense myself to be the loneliest - which is not supposed to happen because you are surrounded by people. The further I think, I noticed it’s because I don’t have people or things that are within my comfort zone to talk to or to share things with. As opposed to if you have 1 friend or 1 partner, they can be someone you confide in and experience things together.

Being lonely is not a bad thing at all. It gives you the time and space and freedom to do the things you want like traveling, cafe hopping, reading as much as you want.

One part of me appreciates it when the cafe person repeat the order back at me precisely. It shows that she listened attentively to me when I speak. I am not alone in the conversation. I also started to do this now sometimes to my friends when they talk to me, just repeating things that they said - not in what I think they said, but exactly like what they meant.

I appreciate loneliness but I don’t want it to live every moment of my life.