Fascinating connection btw loneliness and art – rings so true for nomadicy
Reading this: http://aeon.co/magazine/culture/olivia-laing-me-lonely-in-manhattan/
“Something funny happens to people who are lonely. The lonelier they get, the less adept they become at navigating social currents. Loneliness grows around them, like mould or fur, a prophylactic that inhibits contact, no matter how badly contact is desired. Loneliness is accretive, extending and perpetuating itself. Once it becomes impacted, it isn’t easy to dislodge.
“It seems that this is what loneliness is designed to do: to provoke the restoration of social bonds. Like pain itself, it exists to alert the organism to a state of untenability, to prompt a change in circumstance. We are social animals, the theory goes, and so isolation is — or was, at some unspecified point in our evolutionary journey — unsafe for us.”
I struggle often with loneliness which can so easily bleed in to depression before you’ve even noticed.
Disconnection is just one of the many challenges of a nomadic life. So many people assume buslife is a constant holiday. It’s rich and beautiful and rewarding in so many ways, but with so many disconnections and instabilities I often wonder if it’s psychologically healthy :/
Seriously grateful to the people all over the world who understand this and offer love, kindness, patience & virtual or physical (especially physical!) hugs during those times. You know who you are. I love you with all my heart. Thank you x
[originally posted in Known, February 9th 2015]